Title: The
Snowman
Author: Froxyn
Rating: FRAO
Pairing:
Buffy/Giles
Timeline:
S5’ish. No Dawn, no Riley. AU.
Synopsis:
There’s snow, there’s alcohol.
Author’s Note:
Written for the Drunk!Giles Ficathon, fic specs given by antennapedia. Special thanks to wyvernwolf for everything!
“What the 'ell is a ‘champagne supernova’?”
Buffy raised an eyebrow as she looked up at him. “How am I supposed to know?”
“You were the one singin’ it.”
Giles answered, his words slurred as he concentrated on staying upright.
“Yeah, because I like the song.
Doesn’t mean I know what it means.”
He stopped suddenly and stared at her.
“Songs should make sense.”
“Not all of them do.” She replied
with a shrug as she tugged on his arm to get him moving again. “Besides, I figured that a ‘champagne
supernova’ was some English thing.”
He snorted, grabbing a handful of snow from the top of a bush as they
passed it. “If it were an ‘English
thing’, I’d understand it.”
“Uh-huh…because you’re so good like that. And we didn’t come out here to play music
trivia, you know.” She ducked quickly,
laughing as the sloppily made snowball flew harmlessly over her head. “Great shot, Giles.”
Giles stumbled as he walked along the path in the woods. Buffy grabbed him before he fell, giggling as
he glared at her.
“You’re so drunk.”
“And sober, you are.” He replied,
his glare softening slightly.
Buffy snorted. “A Jedi Master, you’re
not. So don’t talk like one.”
“Didn’t mean to.” He answered
sincerely, snow crunching under his feet as he stumbled again. “Bloody 'ell.
Need to have words with that boy.”
Buffy smiled as she slipped her arm around his waist. “He was just trying to help, Giles.”
Giles stopped walking and glanced back towards the camp before meeting
her eyes. “By getting me drunk? Me being drunk helps no one, Buffy.”
“Giles…”
He shook his head and looked around.
The trees here were covered in snow and they were nearly half a mile
from the campsite.
“How much snow did she give you?”
Buffy tilted her head, placing her left hand on his chest. “Us.
She gave it to us, all of us. You
know it doesn’t snow here. And she
overheard you saying how much you love the snow.”
“An’ the alcohol?”
She offered him a smile as her eyes darted to his lips. “Lowers inhibitions.”
“Don’ need alcohol for that, Buffy.
Have you.”
Her hand slid up his chest to the back of his neck, slowly drawing him
down to her lips as she looked into his eyes and lowered her voice to a
whisper.
“But they don’t know that, Giles.”
“Should tell ‘em.” He whispered
back, half a second before she captured his lips with hers.
He felt himself moving as her tongue probed his mouth, and knew she was
pushing him backwards. Where she was
pushing him to, he had no idea. But, he
trusted her not to let him fall.
He grunted as his back hit a tree.
He groaned as he felt her fingers unbuckle his belt before unbuttoning
and unzipping his jeans. He pulled from
the kiss, resting the back of his head against the rough bark of the tree as
her hand curled around his erection.
“Christ, Buffy…” He slurred as
her thumb rubbed over the glistening head.
“I love how hard you get for me.”
She whispered lustfully as she fell to her knees in the snow in front of
him.
He shook his head and stared drunkenly at her. “No, Buffy…”
She looked up, raising an eyebrow at him as her hand continued to slowly
stroke his hard flesh. “We’ve done this
before, Giles.”
“I’m drunk. There’s snow.” His fingertips lightly brushed her
cheek. “Warm snow, which is…odd.”
“We’re in California, Giles.
And…it’s magic snow, not real snow.”
“Is still snow…you’ll get wet.”
He breathed as he closed his eyes, allowing himself to enjoy her touch
for just a few more moments.
“I’m already wet…have been all day thinking about tonight.”
His eyes snapped open. “T’night?”
“Mm-hm.” She murmured, dragging
her tongue along the underside of his erection.
“You, me, one tent, two sleeping bags joined together…”
“Xander…Willow…” He swallowed as
his eyes glazed with desire.
“Anya…Tara…”
“Two other tents…pretty sure they’ll be busy themselves.” Buffy stated softly, looking up at him as his
fingers combed through her hair.
“Now…you gonna let me finish this?”
Seeing something out of the corner of his eye, Giles turned his head and
furrowed his brow. “We’re bein’
watched…by…um…a snowman?”
Buffy rolled her eyes, but turned her head in the direction that he was
looking anyway. Her eyes narrowed as she
searched the area, quickly shoving his erection back into his jeans as she
stood.
“I don’t see anything.”
He grunted softly at the unintentional roughness of her touch. She looked up at him quickly, regret showing
in her hazel eyes.
“God, I’m sorry, Giles! Are you
okay?”
Giving her a quick nod, he carefully readjusted himself and buttoned and
zipped his jeans. “Snowman’s gone.”
Buffy sighed heavily and took his hand, pulling him forward. “And took the moment with him.”
His feet shuffled forward, the toe of his hiking boot hitting an exposed
tree root and sending him off balance.
Buffy grabbed at him, but his momentum knocked them both to the
ground. She could smell the whiskey on
his breath as he supported himself above her, his hands buried in the warm snow
on either side of her head.
“Sure about that, love?”
She shivered as she felt his erection press against her thigh. “Giles…”
His eyes darted to her chest, swallowing thickly as he watched her
nipples tighten under her shirt. “Cold?”
“It’s not cold, Giles.” She
whispered, slipping her hands underneath the sweater he was wearing.
Shifting his weight onto his left hand, he slid his right under her
shirt to cup a satin-covered breast.
“This is odd.”
She arched against his touch, lightly scraping her nails across his
back. “What?”
“Snow shouldn’t be warm.
It’s…everything about it is right.
Consistency, texture…it’s just not cold.
And that’s odd. Lying here, jeans
wet from melting snow…you should be shivering from cold, not from my touch.”
Dropping her left hand to the ground, she grabbed a handful of the snow
in question. She let it slip through her
fingers when she realized that rubbing warm snow over his chest would not have
the same effect as normal, non-magic snow would.
“You seem to be sobering up…”
He grinned at her as he lightly shook his head. “I feel like I’m becoming more inbre…intosk…drunk.”
She moaned softly as she wrapped her legs over his hips, delighting in
his involuntary reaction of thrusting against her. “Most drunk people aren’t coordinated enough
to do that.”
He gently pinched her nipple before slipping his hand out from under her
shirt. “Concentratin’.”
She raised an eyebrow at him, her fingers dancing along his sides. “On what?”
“You.” He licked his lips as he
lowered his mouth to hers, his voice dropping to an urgent whisper. “Christ, I want you.”
Just before his lips touched hers, his head snapped towards the left,
eyes narrowing. “What the…”
Buffy followed his gaze, whimpering as he pushed himself up and knelt
between her thighs. “Giles, what is it?”
“I…I can’t do this here. Not with
him watching.”
Buffy lifted her head and scanned their surroundings, but still didn't
see anything out of the ordinary, not counting the snow of course. “Him, who?”
“The snowman. ‘e’s back.” Giles slurred, grabbing Buffy’s hand and
pulling her up to sit next to him.
As soon as the words left his mouth, the snowman disappeared. Giles could’ve sworn that the snowman had
winked at him before it vanished.
“An’…now ‘e’s gone.”
“Uh-huh…I think we should get you back to camp.” Buffy stated, amusement in her tone. “I think the pink elephants have arrived.”
Giles looked at her quickly, arching an eyebrow at her. “El’phants?”
Buffy chuckled as she stood, carefully helping him up to stand beside of
her. He stumbled drunkenly, smiling
gratefully when she kept him from falling back onto the snow-covered
ground.
“I s’pose it does sound silly.
Phantom snowman watchin’ us…perhaps I did ‘ave too much to drink.”
Buffy nodded, steadying him before leading him back towards the
camp. “It’s not just the phantom snowman
that makes me think you’ve had too much.”
“Hm?” He wanted to look down at
her, but was too busy concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other
without losing his balance.
“Your accent changes when you’re drunk.
I think you forget that the letter h is actually in the alphabet.”
He snorted, this time he did look at her. And this time he did stumble and fall.
Buffy sighed and rolled her eyes as she bent to help him back up.
When they got back to camp, she was going to kill Xander Harris…maybe not
literally, but he was definitely going to know that she wasn’t exactly thrilled
that her Watcher was too drunk to walk.
And seemingly too drunk to do anything else.
* * *
“It could be a demon.” Anya
stated as she glanced at Willow. “I
mean, this isn’t natural snow. Maybe
something evil came with it.”
Willow narrowed her eyes. “You’re
saying that I created an evil snowman?”
Anya shrugged. “Who knows? We should probably go check for footprints.”
When Giles snorted a laugh, a cup of black coffee in his hands, everyone
turned to look at him. Tara tilted her
head slightly.
“You don’t think we should track it?”
Giles gestured vaguely towards the path.
“ ‘ave at it. But, you’re not
gonna find any footprints.”
Xander furrowed his brow, leaning forward slightly. “Why not?”
Giles took a sip of the coffee and spoke in a tone that stated his
reasoning should be perfectly obvious.
“Snowmen ‘ave no feet.”
Buffy sighed and took the mug from Giles’ hands. “Come on, you need to go to bed and sleep it
off.”
“Or…work it off.” He mumbled as
she pulled him up from the log he was sitting on.
Buffy quickly glanced at the others, breathing a sigh of relief when she
realized that they hadn’t heard him. She
spoke in a barely audible tone, slipping her arm around him as she led him
towards the tent.
“Watch your tongue, Giles.”
He looked down at her, his eyes darkening as he kept his voice a low
murmur. “Would much rather watch yours.”
Xander looked up as Buffy stumbled.
“Hey, you guys okay?”
Buffy turned and met his eyes, annoyance showing in hers. “Yeah.
Why don’t you try to pretty much carry a six foot one drunk man
through the snow.”
Xander blushed lightly. “I didn’t
realize he had as much as he did, Buffy.
I really am sorry.”
“We’ll discuss this later. Right
now, I have to get him to bed.”
“Yes, you do.” Giles whispered,
his fingers flexing against her shoulder.
Her eyes darted to his. “Giles…”
“We…should tell ‘em.”
Buffy’s eyes widened as she shook her head, quickly pushing him towards
the tent and leaving four fairly confused people sitting around the
campfire. Though it was warm, Xander had
insisted on a campfire. Something about
it being a compulsory part of camping.
“No, we shouldn’t tell them. Not
right now, not like this.” She stated
quietly as she zipped the door flap of the tent shut.
“Buffy…”
She pushed him down onto the sleeping bags and shook her head again as
she knelt at his feet and untied his boot laces. “No, you’re drunk and we haven’t – ”
“I love you.” He whispered.
She looked up at him as she dropped his left boot onto the tent
floor. “And I love you. We can tell them tomorrow…when you’re
sober…if you want.”
“I want.” He replied, closing his
eyes briefly to stop the tent from spinning.
“I want so much.”
Removing his other boot, she gently pushed him onto his back and moved
to sit next to him, running her fingers through his hair. “Tell me what you want, Giles.”
“I want everyone to know how much I love you. I want to stop hiding our relationship. I want my bed to be our bed…and I want
you in it every night. But, more than
anything…I want…”
She looked at him curiously when he trailed off and closed his
eyes. “Giles? What do you want more than anything?”
He swallowed and forced his eyes open slightly. “For this bloody tent to stop spinning.”
Buffy chuckled softly and lovingly rubbed her thumb over his brow. “Close your eyes, honey. Get some sleep…I’ll go keep the others
company.”
He licked his dry lips and looked into her eyes. “You’ll be back? Tonight, I mean?”
Leaning over him, she pressed her lips to his warm forehead. “I’ll be back, I promise.”
“Love you.” He mumbled sleepily,
the alcohol quickly pushing him towards slumber.
“I love you too. Rest now.”
Just as she unzipped the door, she heard him whisper her name. She turned around to find his unfocused eyes
staring in her direction.
“Yeah?”
“There was a snowman watchin’ us.
Wasn’t ‘maginin’ it.”
“We’ll keep an eye out for it.
But, you rest.”
“Mm-hm.” He sighed softly and
closed his eyes again. “Restin’…”
A smile played over her lips as she stepped out of the tent and zipped
the door flap shut before making her way back over to the others.
Xander looked up as Buffy approached them. “Is he okay?”
Her smile faded just long enough for Xander to be worried…and then she
chuckled. “Yeah, he’s okay. He’s probably going to have one hell of a
hangover in the morning, though.”
“He should have an orgasm before he goes to sleep.”
Xander closed his eyes. Tara
blushed heavily. Willow’s mouth dropped
open. Buffy merely raised an eyebrow at
Anya.
“Excuse me?”
“Well, we’ve found that if Xander gets really drunk, he feels much
better the next morning if – ”
“Anya! For God’s sake, please do
not finish that statement!” Xander spoke
quickly, his dark eyes pleading with his girlfriend.
Anya shrugged a shoulder and smiled.
Willow closed her mouth and regarded Buffy carefully.
“Um…you don’t really seem all that bothered by that idea.” Willow stated softly.
“Huh?” Buffy looked at her
quickly, her mind scrambling to come up with anything. “Oh, I was just thinking about this snowman
that Giles said he saw.”
Willow and Tara exchanged a knowing look and a grin. Xander couldn’t
stop himself from looking around their campsite as he spoke.
“You didn’t see it, huh?”
“No. No, I didn’t.” Buffy bit her lip, hoping that Anya wouldn’t
ask why she didn’t see it. “But,
he’s pretty adamant about the fact that it really was out there. Maybe I should go have a look around.”
“Probably not alone.” Xander
added, standing up and brushing the snow from his jeans. “I’ll go with you.”
Buffy chuckled softly. “Xander,
it’s a snowman. If there is even
anything out there. He’s so drunk, he
probably imagined it.”
Xander shoved his left hand into his pocket. “Haven’t you ever seen Jack Frost?”
“The ‘nipping at your nose’ guy?” Buffy asked with a smile on her face.
Xander rolled his eyes. “No, the
serial killer who was mutated into a snowman and started killing people to get
his revenge.”
Buffy’s stared at him incredulously.
“Where do you see these movies? And…you
do realize how completely ridiculous that sounds, right?”
“Yeah. About as ridiculous as a
vampire with a soul helping the people of Los Angeles and a professor building
a soldier out of a man and demon pieces parts and a demon being scanned into the
internet and encouraging people to kill for him. But, you know what? Ridiculous things can happen sometimes.”
“Fine, you can come with me.”
Buffy exhaled slowly. “Willow,
can you and Tara put up some kind of magic barrier or something to keep you guys
safe while we’re gone? You know…just in
case.”
Anya’s eyes were wide. “Yeah, can
you? I don’t like the idea of a serial
killer snowman running loose in these woods.
Especially with Giles too drunk to do anything.”
Willow rolled her eyes at Anya’s melodramatics. “And who do we have to thank for Giles’
condition?”
Tara smiled warmly and nodded as she placed her hand on Willow’s
arm. “We can do it, Buffy. And we’ll keep an eye on Mr. Giles while
you’re gone.”
Buffy thought that Tara’s comment about keeping an eye on Giles was a
little odd, but didn’t mention it.
“Okay, thanks. We won’t be long.”
She looked at Xander and fought back the urge to smile when he walked
over to his car and opened the trunk, pulling out a large bottle filled with green
liquid. “Antifreeze?”
Xander raised an eyebrow, pointing a finger at her. “Laugh now, but it was the only thing that
killed Jack in the movie.”
At that, she did laugh. “Come
on. The quicker we get this done, the
quicker we can be back.”
Tara glanced at Willow, whispering as Buffy walked off down the path
with Xander.
“And the quicker she can get back to Mr. Giles.”
Willow smiled brightly, taking Tara’s hand and setting to work on the
barrier around the camp.
* * *
Giles groggily opened his eyes when he felt someone slip into the
sleeping bag next to him. “Buffy?”
She smiled and leaned over, gently kissing his lips. “Expecting anyone else?”
“No.” He whispered and then
groaned softly. “Jesus, I’m going to
feel like shit in the morning.”
Buffy thought of Anya’s statement earlier and slid her hand down his
torso, somewhat surprised to find him completely nude. “Um…when did you get undressed?”
He focused on her eyes and licked his lips, the taste of stale whiskey
thick on his tongue. “I honestly don’t
know. How long were you gone?”
“A while…longer than I wanted to be.”
She admitted softly, brushing her fingers along his hip.
“Everything alright?” He asked,
his voice growing husky.
“Yeah. Xander was just worried
about mutant snowmen.”
His fingers had just edged under the hem of the t-shirt that she had
apparently dug out of his bag to wear to bed.
His hand stilled on her skin as his brow furrowed.
“Mutant snowmen?”
She chuckled softly and leaned into him, placing a warm kiss on his
chest. “Mm-hm. Some movie or something he’d seen. No mutant snowmen found though. All’s clear.”
Inhaling sharply, his fingers slid over her bare hip. “Maybe it was my mind playing tricks
on me again.”
“Maybe.” She whispered, placing a
line of kisses across his chest and up towards his throat. “Maybe not.
You were pretty certain of things.
How’s your head?”
“Throbbing at the moment. By
morning, I’m rather certain I’ll be begging you to stake me to put me out of my
misery.” He lifted his hand, touching
her cheek as she raised her head and met his eyes. “I’m sorry.
This…this isn’t exactly how I imagined tonight.”
She offered him a loving smile as she carefully straddled him, resting on
his upper thighs as she leaned down and dropped a kiss onto his lips.
“And…how did you imagine tonight?”
His hands automatically moved to her thighs, moving upwards until they
grasped her hips. “Buffy…”
Buffy licked her lips and sat up, her fingers lightly stroking his chest
hair. “Anya says that an orgasm helps
keep away hangovers.”
Giles’ hands tightened, his eyes widening. “What?”
“Oh…uh…she was talking about Xander, not about us. ‘Cause she doesn’t know about us. But, it might help. I mean, if you…you probably don’t feel like
it…what with the being drunk and all…”
His grip loosened, his heart calming as she trailed off. He cleared his throat and smiled nervously.
“I wouldn’t say that I’m drunk now and I, uh…vaguely remember something
about telling you certain wants I have.”
“Yeah…” She whispered, her
memories not so vague. “So…has the tent
stopped spinning?”
“I want to tell them, Buffy.” He
answered instead. “I love you so
much…and if I were to be very honest, I’m not sure how much longer I’ll be able
to keep my feelings a secret from them.”
She smiled softly, shifting slightly to rub her core against his
hardening cock. “So…we tell them
tomorrow?”
He groaned and slid his hands further up her sides, pushing the t-shirt
up with his movements. “Yes…God, yes…”
Moving her right hand from his chest and gently placing her fingers over
his lips, her smile grew. “Of
course…they’ll find out tonight if you’re not quiet.”
His eyes darkened as she pulled her fingers from his lips and reached
between them, guiding his erection into her.
“Then…perhaps you should find a way to keep me quiet.”
She bit her lip as he filled her, stifling her groan and causing him to
smile at her.
“Or…perhaps we should find a way to keep one another quiet.”
She stared down at him through desire-glazed eyes, a small drop of blood
forming on her bottom lip as she shivered.
“Never…never knew how…hard it could be…”
He pushed himself up, his eyes darting to her bottom lip as he leaned
forward and kissed her softly. His
tongue gently wiped the blood away before he pulled back and looked into her
eyes.
“Never knew how hard what could be, Buffy?” He whispered as he slowly pushed the t-shirt
she was wearing over her head and dropped it to the tent floor.
Draping her arms over his shoulders, she let her fingers play with his
hair as she sighed. “Being quiet. I never had trouble being quiet with anyone
before…”
He smiled broadly and slid his hands back to her hips, using his touch
to urge her into motion. “I would like
to believe that has something to do with…”
She rocked against him, licking her lips as he trailed off. “With you being great in bed? Yeah, that’s part of it… ‘cause you really
are.”
He wanted to lean back, and nearly did before he remembered that there
wouldn’t be a headboard to hold him up.
Glancing to his left, he saw his large duffel bag and grabbed it. When she realized what he was doing, she
helped him move it behind him.
As he leaned back carefully, she raised her hand to his cheek in a
loving gesture. “Okay?”
“Mm-hm…you?” He whispered as she
started to rock against him again.
“God, yeah…” She moaned as she lowered her mouth to the side of his
neck.
His eyes closed, his hands roaming over her back as he moved with
her. “Buffy?”
“Hm?” She mumbled against his
neck, the fingers of her left hand finding the nipple closest to it.
“You…you said that my being…good…in bed was part of it.”
She lifted her head and smiled, gently pinching his hardened nipple
between her fingers. “No. I actually said you were great in
bed. But, even that’s not right. You’re amazing…in or out of the bed.”
He gasped at her contact, his hips thrusting upwards in response. “Christ…”
Sucking in a sharp breath, she increased her pace. “I’m in love with you...that’s the main
reason.”
His hands moved back to her hips, moving with her as she rode him. Knowing that he couldn’t keep quiet for much
longer, and suspecting she was in a similar predicament, he covered her mouth
with his and plunged his tongue between her lips.
She slid her hands back to his shoulders, gripping him tightly as she
moaned into his mouth.
Her orgasm built quickly and he allowed his to follow her over the edge,
a growl rumbling in his chest as he concentrated on not tearing his mouth from
hers and screaming her name as he normally did.
Her body trembled as he held her tight against his chest, his tongue
tenderly stroking hers instead of plunging obscenely into her mouth.
When she felt him soften within her, she raised up enough to let him
slip out. She sighed at the loss and
ended the kiss, resting her forehead against his as they both fought to catch
their breath.
“Move in with me.”
She pulled back, her eyes widening at his soft whisper. “What?”
“Move in with me. Help me turn my
bed into our bed.” He swallowed
nervously as he brushed the hair back from her face. “I’m sure that was one of the ‘wants’ I
listed last night for you.”
“I…I thought that was because you were drunk…”
“Yes, but as I stated earlier, I’m not drunk now…well, not as drunk as I
was. I would imagine you would consider
me slightly tipsy, but – ”
“Giles, you’re rambling.” She
interrupted, still staring at him in disbelief.
He sighed softly, looking deep into her eyes. “The point is…I want us to live
together. I want to go to sleep with you
every night…wake up with you every morning.
Maybe wake you up during the night once in a while…”
He offered her a smile, trailing his fingers down her cheek. “I’m in love with you too, Buffy. I don’t think either of us are ready for
marriage…and we may never be. But…I do
know that I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”
She was quiet for a moment before moving off of him. He raised an eyebrow as he watched her lay
down next to him. Rolling onto her back,
she took a deep breath and then smiled.
“Come here, Giles.”
He lowered himself to the sleeping bags underneath them and leaned over
her, brushing his lips across hers as his left hand slipped between her damp
and still-quivering thighs.
“Will you move in with me, Buffy?”
She nearly chuckled at his tentatively asked question. Instead, she wrapped her hand around the back
of his neck and returned his gentle kiss.
“Yeah, I will.” Running her
fingers through his slightly damp hair, she sighed in contentment. “How’s your head?”
He glanced at her lips, swollen and red from their kisses. “Not throbbing. Perhaps Anya’s remedy is a valid one.”
Buffy’s eyes flickered as his fingers brushed through her wet curls to
find her sensitive clitoris. “Maybe we
should try again…you know, just to make sure.”
He grinned and pushed his middle finger into her as his thumb lightly
pressed against her clit. When she
moaned a little louder than she had intended, he covered her mouth with his.
It wouldn’t do for them to ruin the surprise they were going to give the
others in the morning.
* * *
When Giles woke Buffy up, the sun had just risen…the snow had
disappeared at some point during the night.
He had made love to her slowly, whispering his love for her into her ear
and capturing her soft cries and moans with his kisses.
Afterwards, they had gotten dressed and decided to go for a walk. Their walk was more for the purpose of freely
discussing their plans of revealing their relationship to their friends than
anything else. They strolled along the
path, lush green grass on either side of the worn walkway, their arms around
one another.
When they made their way back to the campsite, Giles was a little surprised
to find the other four up and milling about.
Xander looked up and grinned.
“Up early looking for Jack Frost?”
Giles furrowed his brow in confusion.
“I’m sorry?”
Buffy rolled her eyes at Xander and then looked up at Giles. “Remember that mutant snowman theory Xander
had? In the movie, his name was Jack
Frost.”
“Oh.” Giles answered
uncertainly. “Um, no. There is no snow, therefore…no snowman.”
Anya tilted her head and regarded Giles.
“So, how are you feeling this morning?”
“Surprisingly well, thank you.”
He answered with a smile.
“Oh…had an orgasm last night before you went to sleep then?”
Giles’ smile faltered. Xander
lowered his eyes and shook his head.
Willow snorted a soft laugh while Tara blushed. Buffy merely smiled before answering Anya’s
question.
“Two actually.”
Xander’s eyes snapped up as Giles’ lowered, his skin reddening. Willow’s mouth dropped open as Tara
smiled. Anya raised an eyebrow, her grin
widening.
And just like that, Buffy and Giles’ relationship was out in the
open. Questions began pouring forth,
most of which Buffy and Giles took turns answering after they sat down on a
log. However, most of Anya’s questions
remained unanswered.
* * *
Later that afternoon, as they were pulling down the tents and packing up
their belongings, Giles heard Xander call his name. He allowed his eyes to roam over Buffy’s
backside as she bent over to pull a stake from the ground before clearing his
throat.
“Yes?”
Hearing the gravelled tone of his voice, Buffy stood up and arched an
eyebrow at him. He merely shrugged a
shoulder and gave her the half-smile that she loved so.
“Um…I think this is for you…”
Giles turned to find Xander holding a lump of coal and a carrot in one
hand, an envelope in the other. Buffy’s
eyes widened as she followed Giles over to Xander.
Giles eyed the items Xander held as he took the envelope and quickly
opened it. Xander looked at Buffy and
shrugged as Giles read the note that he had pulled from the envelope.
“So, I’m guessin’ Jack Frost wasn’t Giles’ drunk imagination.”
“And his name wasn’t Jack Frost.”
Giles answered, exasperation evident in his voice.
Buffy looked up at him as he handed the note to her. “There are only two people who can make you
sound like that. And…I didn’t leave you
a note.”
Giles exhaled deeply and looked at Xander. “Help me load the tents into the cars.”
“Okay…” Xander replied slowly,
but dropped the coal and carrot and picked up one of the rolled tents. He was curious, but past experience had
taught him never to ask too many questions when Giles was exasperated. “No problem.”
Giles looked down at Buffy just as she had finished reading the
note. She offered him a small wry smile
as she folded the piece of paper and slipped it back into the envelope.
“Well, at least now we have an explanation.”
“Mm.” Giles mumbled. “This is deserving of a thrashing for Ethan.”
Buffy chuckled, handing the envelope back to him. “It’s not his fault that he got snowmanified
when Will did the spell.”
“No, but – ” He stopped himself
and stared at her. “Snowmanified?”
“What would you call it?” She
asked seriously.
He thought for a moment, running his hand through his hair. “Well, I…nothing, actually. As far as I know, this is the first time that
a live human being has been transformed into a living snowman.”
“So, what’s wrong with saying that he was snowmanified?”
“I suppose there’s nothing wrong with it. But, him being…um…snowmanified…isn’t the reason
he deserves a thrashing.”
“Well…he didn’t make me forget I’m the Slayer, he didn’t send a demon to
kill me instead of him, he didn’t give you cursed chocolate, and he didn’t turn
you into a demon. He should’ve been
thrashed for all of those.”
“He received a decent one for the first two incidents.” Giles responded softly.
When she tilted her head, a silent question in her eyes, he sighed. “He tried to hurt you.”
Buffy felt a rush of love for him sweep through her. “So, this time…he shows up to cause a bit of
mischief and gets snowmanified before he can do anything. He can’t tell you what happened because
snowmen can’t talk…”
Giles chuckled at the absurdity of her statement. She smiled and continued.
“And then he decides to watch us for a while.”
Giles blushed lightly. “Well, he
always did like to watch.”
Buffy slid her hand up his chest, her smile widening as his arms moved
around her. “He waits it out…becomes
human again once the spell ends. Comes
back to find you…and you’re a bit…um, preoccupied. So, he leaves a note…not very Ethan-like.”
He thought for a moment before bending his head and brushing his lips
across hers. “Actually, it’s very much
like him.”
When she started to question him, he shook his head and slid his hands
down to her hips as he kissed her again.
“I’ll explain that statement later.
Right now, I think I’d like to concentrate on the beautiful woman in my
life.”
She smiled brightly and wrapped her arms around his neck. “That’d be me, right?”
He laughed gently as he lowered his mouth to hers, not bothering to
answer her question with words. Instead,
he answered with his actions…his tongue lovingly stroking hers, his hands
tightening on her hips and pressing her body against his own. When her nails lightly scratched the back of
his neck, he seriously considered dropping to the ground and pulling her down
with him.
What stopped him were the sounds behind him. Willow’s gasp, Tara’s startled ‘oh’, Xander’s
groan, Anya’s snort.
They reluctantly pulled apart, gazing into one another’s eyes. An unspoken promise drifted between them.
Tonight. Home. Their home. With no alcohol to put a damper on their
plans.
Tonight seemed like such a long way away to Buffy. She wanted him now and it was fairly obvious
that he felt the same. But, she’d
wait…as patiently as she possibly could.
Unless Giles decided to pull off onto some deserted road on the way
back.
Giles read the thought as it flashed in her hazel eyes and grinned. He distinctly remembered a dirt road that
veered off the highway about ten miles outside of Sunnydale.
Surely no one would notice if they were a few minutes late getting back.
And he was rather sure that he didn’t care if they did notice.
~ End
Three things that antennapedia wanted:
1.
Drunken fun in vast quantities of
snow
2.
Someone as a teasing
mischief-maker (Ethan? Xander? Spike? Your favorite character?)
3.
Wet jeans
Three things that antennapedia didn’t want:
1.
Sentimentality
2.
Unhappiness
3.
Frostbite