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summer_of_giles2016-07-04 10:57 am
In a Corner of My Soul, Angel Part 2, PG
Previous chapters
Angel, Part 1, including a review of what's happened so far
Willow ducked behind a parked car and stared at the brick expanse of the high-school. Maybe she shouldn't have worn the Hello Kitty t-shirt, but she was trying to break taboos and gang colors were not allowed which sort of made them taboo, right? This t-shirt, with the white silhouette of Hello Kitty, was the only black she had. Did the bow count as a red accessory if it was part of the design on the shirt?
She had to move. The bell was about to ring and then she'd be late. She'd never been late. What if they called home and Mom wanted to know why she'd been late? She couldn't explain that it'd been because she was worried about wearing gang colors into school. But what if they sent her home because she was wearing gang colors? A bell rang. She had only ten minutes to get to class. Willow darted across the street and dashed up the stairs, dodging other students. Maybe if she kept moving nobody'd notice she was wearing gang colors.
All through homeroom, Willow could feel everyone's eyes on her even though no one said anything. I'm getting away with it, she thought. This isn't hard at all. In fact, it feels sort of powerful. Hey, yeah, rebel here. What are you staring at? Never seen a powerful rebel woman before? Wait, was Xander saying something? “What?”
“I asked if you were up for a bit of cockroach slaying this evening. You know, fumigation party? Bronze?”
“Oh, um, sure.” Hey, maybe she could wear black to the Bronze. Oh, um, except black clothes and red accessories weren't taboo outside of school.
“Do you think Buffy'll be there?”
“Why wouldn't she?”
“More to the point,” Xander added. “Do you think she'll be too busy mooning over Angel to notice me? Us, I mean us.”
Ooh, Angel wore black, lots of black. Was it the black that made Angel so mysterious in that slightly dangerous kind of a way? Maybe that's why nobody had commented on her t-shirt. Maybe she was giving off a dangerous mystery-woman vibe.
“Willow. Willow!”
“What?”
“What do you mean what? You're totally zoning out. What's wrong with you today?”
“Nothing. I just have a lot of thoughts in my mind as I sometimes do.”
“Yeah, but they usually don't make you quiet.”
Ooh, maybe the black was making her taciturn just like Angel was taciturn. Wow, this taboo breaking thing was really effective if it was changing her this fast.
The bell rang before she could explore this idea further. As they walked to class Willow glanced from side-to-side, looking to see if anyone was turning away from her t-shirt. She hadn't caught anyone at it, but they sort of had to be what with black being a taboo color and all. Maybe the black was sort of projecting itself ahead so everyone knew to look away before she could spot them at it or … or maybe they were gossiping about her. Maybe it was all over the school that she, Willow Rosenberg, was not only wearing a taboo color but also getting away with it.
“Well, and look who's all gang-colored up today.”
Oh, Xander finally got the courage? Oh, no, he was talking to Cordelia.
“Like I'm going to let anyone tell me what to wear.” Cordelia had on black pants, a purple shirt and, over that, a blouse in a pattern of purple, blue, and silver.
Willow looked around. Everyone was staring at Cordelia. Nobody had even noticed the black t-shirt or Hello Kitty's red accessory. But why wouldn't they? It was a very black t-shirt, almost entirely black with just a touch of white. Maybe Hello Kitty acted as a kind of cuirass, a kind of body armor, except rather than blocking swords it blocked gazes so that nobody saw she was wearing black. Or maybe it was just her, Willow Rosenberg, invisible girl.
***
Rupert woke with a crick in his neck. High-school furniture did not make for a comfortable bed. Blurry eyed, he glanced up at the clock before jumping to his feet. It was well into first period. Knowing that Buffy was categorically unable to let him sleep, he could only conclude she's missed homeroom. Had she been attacked on patrol? Was she still alive? The halls flew by in a blur as he raced to her class. As he peered through the window, he saw her sitting there, next to Willow and behind Xander, barely paying attention to the lesson. He knocked on the door and asked if he could see her in the hallway.
“Giles! What are you doing? You can't just walk into a class and ask for me. It looks bad. It looks suspicious, like why are you paying so much attention to me.”
“You missed homeroom.” He was bluffing. He wasn't certain she hadn't smirked over him before skipping her meditation session entirely.
“I was late. Sorry. You try getting out of the house on-time when you're sneaking around and hiding a guy in your bedroom.”
“You were what? Hiding a man from your mother? Buffy, I know you want to have a life outside of Slaying but bringing home a young man, on a school night, right under your mother's nose …”
“It wasn't a guy, it was Angel.”
Oh, and that made it better.
“After he saved me. I couldn't let him go outside. What if those three vamps were still waiting?”
“Saved you? Three vampires?”
She peered toward his skull. “What? Did you hit your head last night? Three unusually strong vampires? Angel saved me? I thought you were looking stuff up.”
Damn. Why couldn't the bastard who took over his body ever leave notes? “Ah, of course. I left the library without my morning tea. Still a bit groggy. But I was worried when you didn't make homeroom.”
“Worried, huh?” She crossed her arms and stared up at him. “First period's gonna end in about ten minutes. You're just checking up on me now?”
“Unlike you, I was working all evening, researching.”
“Come up with anything?”
Damn. He hadn't looked at the books scattered across the table. “We'll discuss it at lunch.” She didn't look convinced. “You should get back to your class.”
Three vampires, unusually strong. He could only hope that the relevant texts hadn't been reshelved.
***
Recalling the last time the children had been around while he was eating, Rupert waited until Buffy's lunch period had started before ordering his own meal to ensure that his meal would be delivered after she was firmly ensconced in her next class. There had been absolutely no need for her to insinuate that his wilted arugula was some sort of slime demon. She'd even turned her nose up at the Yellowfin Tuna dusted with Herbes de Provence, asking if his fish, a gourmet delight of a meal, wasn't a tad too stinky. Never again. Even if he had missed breakfast, he could wait until after their meeting to eat his own lunch.
Setting down the phone's receiver, he heard Xander calling from the other room. “Giles? You here?” Rupert rolled his eyes. Where else did the boy expect him to be?
He stepped out of his office and cringed to see Xander inadvertently dusting the library's table with some sort of orange foodstuff. Well, Rupert presumed the offending substance was food given how the boy was shoving it into his mouth. Rupert thought about grabbing a paper plate but then thought better of it. As he stepped behind the counter to grab a newspaper, Xander, oblivious to his presence, spoke up in a girlish falsetto. “Oh, Angel, I'm cold.” The falsetto gave way to something deep but mocking. “Well here, baby, take my jacket. Looks better on you anyway.”
When Rupert, joining Xander at the table, stepped into his line of sight, the boy leaped to his feet, tossing orange chip somethings high into the air. They fell not only onto the table but onto two of the chairs and the floor as well. “Jeez, G-Man, can't you wear a bell?”
“Xander.” Rupert pinched the bridge of his nose. Did the boy always have to decimate his library? “Shouldn't you be having your lunch, such as it is, in the cafeteria?”
“Buffy said we'd be going over the three ugly vamps who'd attacked her last night.”
Expecting that Xander wouldn't think to clean up after himself, Rupert went to fetch a broom and dustpan. He returned to find Xander picking up the lose chips and tossing them out, the ones from the floor at least; the others he seemed prepared to eat. “Here,” Rupert said, handing the cleaning items over. “This will make the clean-up easier. If we're discussing vampires, shouldn't Buffy be here?”
“They're still at Willow's locker, gossiping about Angel and his perfect hair and his perfect jacket which Buffy won't take off.”
Rupert had walked to the far end of the table, far from the orange dust, but Giles stopped before he could sit down. “Angel was at the Bronze?” Buffy hadn't told him that. In fact, she'd flat out told him Angel had appeared after she'd been attacked.
“Huh? No, no, she was just wearing his jacket because apparently she can't take it off.”
“That's Angel's jacket she's been wearing.” That would explain why it was too large for her.
“Yeah, and who goes around exchanging clothes on a balmy night anyway?”
Jealousy. Good. Giles hid his smirk behind a serious expression. “I am concerned about this Angel. Honestly? I don't trust him.”
“See?” As Xander dumped the chips into the trash, orange flakes fell from the dustpan onto the floor. Giles decided to ignore it for now. No need to distract the boy at a crucial moment. “Me either,” Xander continued. “I'm big with the not trusting, but the girls, they think he's the cat's pajamas.”
“Would you be willing to, er, share any information you learn about Angel?”
Xander dropped the dustpan by the bin. “You want me to spy on him?” He sounded pleased.
“I don't want you following Angel himself. We don't want to arouse his suspicions, but if either of the girls happen to mention any useful details to you, I'd like to hear them. Buffy knows I don't share her high opinion of Angel.”
“She knows I don't like him either,” Xander said.
“But you're a student where I'm a figure of authority. She'd share things with you that she'd never tell me, and then there is Willow.” Given the girl's inexplicable infatuation with Xander, Giles didn't believe she could keep anything from the boy.
“Oh, yeah, that's true,” Xander mused. “Deal.” Xander held out his hand and they shook on it. Giles resisted the temptation to wipe his hands clean of the orange dust.
“Have you learned anything about Angel?”
“He's buff,” the boy replied. “She'd never said he was buff. Oh, and Willow said something about a tattoo, uh, on his back.”
“How does she know that?”
By his expression, Xander obviously hadn't wondered about it. “Not sure. It's new info though. It wasn't a subject of conversation before today.”
“Buffy must have seen it last night, at her house.”
“Yeah, at Buffy's house, that makes …” Xander's voice rose in outrage. “He was at her what?”
“Apparently he'd spent the night.”
Xander's indignation was all that he could hope for. “Oh, well, that's just … I mean, what was she thinking, bringing him home?”
“I'm sure I don't know, but back to this tattoo.” He should get a description before Buffy arrived. She certainly wouldn't appreciate his investigation.
“First they're swapping clothes and then he's spending the night …”
“Xander.”
“Who knows what kind of shenanigans they'll get up to next ...”
“Xander!”
Xander shut up but stared at Giles as if here were the one being unreasonable. “What?”
“This tattoo, do you know anything more …”
“Hey Giles, what's the sitch?” And of course Buffy arrived, with Willow trailing behind, at the worst moment possible.
“You brought Angel into your house? A guy you know nothing about, and he was in your house?”
“Well, yeah,” Buffy said as she and Willow crossed the room. “Those guys were still outside, or, well, they might have been. He slept over.”
“He spent the night?” Xander asked. “In your room? In your bed?”
“Not in my bed.” Buffy didn't sound amused. “By my bed.”
“That's so romantic,” Willow added. “There all night and a perfect gentleman.”
“Buffy, c'mon, wake up and smell the seduction. It's the oldest trick in the book.”
“What?” Buffy asked. “Saving my life? Getting slashed in the ribs?”
“If we could,” Giles interrupted. “I'd like to get back to the three vampires you failed to defeat.” With a grimace, he brushed orange dust off the book he'd left on the table. He opened it to the page he'd marked. “Did they look like this?”
“Yeah. What's with the uniforms?”
“It seems you encountered the Three. Warrior vampires, very proud and very strong.”
“How is it you always know this stuff?” Willow asked. “You always know what's going on. I never know what's going on.”
“You didn't spend the night engaged in research.”
“No,” Willow replied. “I was sleeping.”
“Alone, right?” Xander added. “Unlike someone we could name.”
“What is it with you?”
Giles interrupted before Xander could tear off on his obsessive tangent. “I understand you saw a tattoo.”
“Oldest trick in the book,” the boy muttered.
“Well, yeah, but it wasn't because Angel was being all seductive.” Buffy glared at Xander until he wilted before her. “God, Xander. He was injured, and I was there with bandages and stuff.”
So much for avoiding Xander's tangent. “Would you describe the tattoo please.”
“Black ink, no color. “The letter 'A', a capital letter, not a small one, and above that, um, a sort of bird, but not really a bird. I mean, it had feathers, sort of, but its feet were more like animal feet and its head, well, it had animal ears?”
“I don't suppose you could provide a tad more detail about the ears.”
“Huh?”
“Rabbit ears, cat ears, giraffe ears?”
“Ooh, ooh, big floppy elephant ears?” Willow inserted excitedly.
“Uh, I don't know,” Buffy replied. “Ear ears. You know, like animal ears.”
Was the girl honestly that unobservant. “So good to know you were paying attention. Anything else?”
“Like a distinct lack of shirt?” Xander muttered.
Giles beat Buffy to the punch. “Xander!” When he had the boy's attention, he added, “Finish cleaning up your mess.”
“What mess?”
Giles pointed at the trash can.
Staring at the bin, Xander said, “I ask again, what mess?”
“The orange dust from your chips. Get it off the floor.” Xander stared at Giles, not moving. “Now!”
“All right, all right, no need to get your panties in a bunch.”
Giles turned back to Buffy. “What else did you notice about this tattoo?”
“Nothing, that's it.” She turned her glare on him. “Hey, wait a minute. You're researching Angel. You sill think he's a baddie.”
“Buffy, I've explained my reservations …”
“Shouldn't we be worrying about, oh I don't know, the real threat? These Three guys?”
“Not really. The Three, having failed, will offer their own lives in penance.”
“You mean they're gonna kill themselves?” Willow sounded upset. “Which, I mean, okay, fewer vampires, so good, but, um, also sort of icky.”
“With vampires, ritualized murder is more likely but, basically, yes. I'm more concerned about the Master. He's trapped and I therefore assumed he wasn't a danger to Buffy, but given that he's called the Three, I'm afraid I must revise my opinion.”
“Giles? English?”
Willow replied. “Because we defeated the Master at that Harvest thing, leaving him trapped in that magical bubble, we thought he couldn't do any more damage, but now we know he can.”
“Um, yes, thank you Willow.” Giles turned to Buffy. “We must step up your training with weapons. We will work an extra hour each night until this situation has been resolved.”
“An extra hour? Giles, I don't have time now.”
“Buffy.”
“Fine.” She grabbed her bag. “But I'm getting to class before you decide to give me anything else to do. Oh, unless you want to work this extra hour in during the day, say during biology?”
When Giles declined, Buffy sailed out with Willow in her wake.
“You should give her more to do.”
“What?”
Xander had, surprisingly, removed all the orange dust from the floor. “Buffy. If she has time to run into Angel outside the Bronze, then she can make more time for Slaying, and I'd really, really appreciate if you didn't tell Buffy I said that.”
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Poor Giles burning the candle at both ends... and it's not entirely of his own doing.
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Yeah, definitely starting to ratchet the stress up on Giles. *grin*
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I particularly love your Willow. She's so hilariously adorable. I especially loved this bit:
Maybe she shouldn't have worn the Hello Kitty t-shirt, but she was trying to break taboos and gang colors were not allowed which sort of made them taboo, right?
Sorry it's taken forever for me to get round to taking the rest of this. Had a bit of an intense week.
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My week's being more siiiiiikg! than intense but it does mean I'm not getting much done myself. ;-(
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