Wow, I just loved this. It's such a mature look into Giles' character and his plight of knowing too much and not enough, and having to live with the contradictory burdens of his role. Xander's youthful, kind blundering attempts to salve things too subtle for him to understand is wonderfully rendered. Very, very nicely done. I copied a line to illustrate moments where your wording impressed me because you suggested so much in a few words. This was one The aftertaste of youth still hung about his companion’s lazy grin, but his pose was wary, adult, but then I kept reading more. Guess you can tell, I liked your story a lot ;-)