FIC: Attack of the Ipos (B/G) 2/2

[katekat]

~please see notes and disclaimers in Part I~

After breakfast Buffy went home to get a couple of changes of clothes and check in with her mom. Funny, Joyce hadn’t seemed to mind that Buffy had spent the night at Giles’. Buffy wondered about that as she tried to call her friends. She’d moved back home for the summer, but her mom wasn’t as psyched about having her semi-adult daughter back in the house. Maybe she’d find a way to spend more time out of the house this summer. Just thinking about Giles made her stomach flutter. And brought to mind their activities of the night, the morning, and his kiss goodbye. Her Watcher could kiss goodbye like nobody’s business. And he did say at breakfast that he wouldn’t mind having her there in the morning. That thought brought a secret smile to her lips.

Calls to the gang went unheeded for several hours, and it wasn’t until late afternoon that everyone gathered at Giles’ apartment. Willow and Tara arrived first. Buffy, Anya and Xander got there minutes later. Buffy explained about the strange demon and her encounter with it, and after the laughter had died down, she finished with, “And then I came back here to get cleaned up last night. Mom *so* would’ve had a hissy if I’d gotten chocolate all over the house, demon induced or not. So, research? First aim is to figure out what it is, then what it’s searching for. And no snickering or I’ll send you guys after it next time.” All four friends nodded, still trying to keep their smiles from turning into outright laughter. Of all the things they’d ever faced on the hellmouth, this seemed one of the goofiest.

Giles went to the bookshelf to pick out research books. Willow hopped online. Xander groaned when Giles passed him the _Dictionnaire Infernal_. He hated the thick book with crusty pages. Giles raised his eyebrow at him.

“Hey, I’m not really complaining, just groaning under the weight. But, you didn’t hand me the _Pseudomonarchia Daemonum_, so I’m happy. Make Tara read that one this time okay? The old English makes my head hurt.”

Tara affectionately smiled at him as she pulled the _Pseudomonarchia Daemonum_ text off the shelf. “Xander, how did you ever get mixed up all of this?”

“For my skills.” At Tara’s disbelieving laugh he continued, “Hey, you may not be able to depend on me for Old English reading, but you can’t do without my sterling charm and ability to order the best pizza in town,” Xander quipped back, then settled down to begin leafing through his book.

Tara giggled, settling on the couch with her own demonology text. Anya took one of the non-English language books from Giles’ pile and cuddled next to Xander. Without pausing in his book perusal, Xander put an arm around his girlfriend. The research party had begun.

Giles handed another book to Buffy and they both sat on the couch to read. Xander looked up and noticed Watcher and Slayer were practically sitting on top of each other. In fact, it looked almost like Buffy was cuddling into the side of her Watcher as she settled down. He blinked, wondering what had gotten into them, then went back to his book.

*******************************

As the sun began to set, Xander noticed Buffy pulling on her rattiest jacket and beginning to head for the door. “Hey Buffy, how come you get to leave?”

“I thought that was obvious . . .” she replied as she tossed her hair over her shoulder and turned back to him, “because I have to go make sure the icky duck-lion-thing doesn’t spray anyone else. Besides, haven’t you figured out how this relationship works yet, Xand? I’ll get covered in icky goo so you don’t have to.”

Her eyes flicked to Giles; Xander watched a secret little smile flicker over her features. He wondered why a demon spewing made Buffy happy. Made *both* Buffy and Giles happy.

“Well, thanks for the sacrifice Buffster.” Xander replied. His comeback went unnoticed. Buffy kept looking Giles’ way. She’d been keeping eye contact with her Watcher for a lot longer than her usual pre-patrol goodbye. And she was still smiling, although it had now turned into a silly sort of cute smile that Xander had only seen her wear when she was in the first stages of falling in love. He looked at Giles and discovered the Watcher was smiling, too.

Seconds passed, and still no eye contact breakage. Maybe there was something going on between them? [Huh], he thought, [Buffy and Giles together. That’s kind of cute. They could become the Watcher/Slayer dynamic duo. Better than Batman and Robin. Hopefully not with costumes. Or, well, costumes might not be so bad. Wait! Costumes? Bad Xander. No costumes!]

Finally Buffy broke off the smiling and the eye contact. She looked around sheepishly and Xander ducked his head back into his book, successfully concealing a smile of his own. He realized he’d noticed something none of the other Scoobies had, and he wasn’t going to tell anyone their secret if they didn’t want to broadcast it. Although, come to think of it, they hadn’t done anything to hide their eye contact, and he supposed if anyone had been paying close attention they would’ve noticed the snuggling couch research. Xander wondered what the girls would say when it came out.

As for him, he realized that he was kind of glad – Buffy actually found a guy who was good enough for her. And Giles, he knew Giles had loved her for years. It was hard to miss, considering he was the world’s foremost expert on unrequited love. Or at least he had been until An. Xander reached down to run his hand through his favorite girl’s hair, and she looked up from her book and smiled at him.

Giles got up to see Buffy to the door.

“Bye, guys.” Buffy flapped her hand as she moved past Giles and into the night. The Watcher stood holding the doorframe, looking a little wistfully after her, then closed the door and moved to pick up his own demonology text. He caught Xander watching him, and blushed. Xander grinned back, wordlessly trying to tell his friend that he didn’t need to be embarrassed about a thing.

Giles looked mildly surprised at the look in Xander’s eyes. Then comprehension dawned. Giles ducked his head, and then smiled at Xander, gratefully.

*******************************

An hour after Buffy’s departure, Xander looked up from the open book in his lap. “Hey, everybody, I think I found it.” All heads turned toward him. “Listen to this: ‘Ipos is the Twenty-second Spirit, who governs 36 Legions. He appears as an angel with a lion's head, a goose's foot, and a hare's tail. He knows of past, present, and future events, and makes men witty and bold.’”

“Thank goodness. I was definitely getting tired of reading.” Anya put her book down with a satisfied smile.

Giles looked over Xander’s shoulder to see the picture. He shook his head. “I should have known. The Ipos. But that makes no sense. Tara, will you cross check that in the Pseudomonarchia Daemonum? Try the alternative spelling: A-y-p-e-r-o-s. It should be under the Counts of Hell section.”

Tara leafed forward, finding the entry they were looking for. “Um, yes, I think it’s here, but it doesn’t say anything about spitting chocolate sauce.” She read, “‘Ipos [Ipes], alias Ayporos [Ayperos], is a great earle and a prince, appeering in the shape of an angell, and yet indeed more obscure and filthie than a lion, with a lions head, a gooses feet, and a hares taile: he knoweth things to come and past, he maketh a man wittie, and bold, and hath under his jurisdiction thirtie six legions.’”

“That sounds right, doesn’t it?” Xander asked. “The whole lion-goose thing right?” He looked at Giles for confirmation, then got nervous, his voice getting more and more urgent. “What are the legions they’re talking about Giles? Should we expect more lion-geese? Will there be a big fight? Do we need to recruit? I’m too young to die covered in chocolate.”

Giles frowned, whipping his glasses off and polishing them as he considered Xander’s slightly hysterical questions. “Xander, calm down. The _Pseudomonarchia_ simply refers to the mythical number of hellish legions the Ipos will lead when Satan rises up to fight against God in the last battle. We are not in any danger, as the end of all days is, at best guess, quite a few centuries off. You have nothing to worry about on that score. What does worry me, however, is the ‘goo factor’ isn’t mentioned in either of these books. Why on earth would the Ipos be shooting anything out of its mouth? It simply doesn’t make sense.”

Giles went into lecture mode, both thinking aloud and explaining to everyone else in the room. “Traditionally, if they are here before the end of all days, the Counts of Hell must be summoned to this plane. We must simply find out who summoned it, and then we can duplicate the ritual to send it back.”

Willow’s ears perked up at this. “Do we need to do a spell to find out who summoned it?”

“Yes, I believe I have the correct one here.” Giles turned away from the group gathered on the floor. He walked to the section of his bookcase that no one else ever got to touch. He opened one to a middle passage and began reading. Willow moved to read over his shoulder.

“Hey, this is easy! I could do this spell! It’s just scrying.” Giles looked down at her in thought.

“Would you mind casting it?” he asked. “It should give you a picture of the incantation as it happened. You’ll know the identity of the caster, and hopefully also find out why the demon is now covering people with chocolate,” he asked.

Willow was practically jumping up and down with excitement. “Totally! I have everything we need back in my room.” She shyly glanced over at Tara. “Do you want to help me?”

Before the other witch could answer there was a knock at the door. Xander, Anya and Tara looked at the door, then at Giles. Willow turned around to stare. No one they knew knocked on Giles’ door.

Xander broke the silence. “Giles? Expecting someone?”

Giles smiled. “It’s probably Buffy.”

“Huh? Since when does Buffy knock?” Xander asked.

Giles moved to the door, blushing. “Since last night.”

Anya and Tara shared another baffled gaze, but Xander smiled to himself. [Uh huh. Giles definitely has it bad for Buffy. And something definitely happened last night.]

*******************************

The door opened, revealing the welcome sight of Giles, with everyone else behind him. Buffy sighed with relief, and then, when the laughter started, realized she was never going to live this down.

Xander completely cracked up. Anya began with little giggles that graduated to full-bodied laughing noises, one hand covering her mouth and the other pointing at Buffy. Willow and Tara were snickering, and even Giles, her Giles, was laughing at her again.

“I told you if you kept laughing at me I was going to throw you in the path of that demon.” Buffy thundered at Giles. “And if I have to go back out there again to kill it *you’re* coming with me.”

Contrite, he contained his laugher and waved her inside. “I’m sorry Buffy, but you have to admit, you took us by surprise. Correct me if I’m wrong, but it seems as if the demon added whipped cream and cherries this time?”

Buffy began to move directly toward the bathroom. “Yes, the demon ‘added’ whipped cream and cherries. And cherries *hurt* when you’re being pelted with them. Please tell me you guys figured out what this thing is?”

Giles ducked his head, both to hide his smile and his excitement, “We did. It’s called an Ipos. However, we haven’t, as yet, found out its purpose, simply that it had to be summoned here. Also, there is no mention of it covering it’s victims in any kind of. . .” he started to smirk while searching for the right word, “. . .topping.”

Buffy sighed at her Watcher’s attempt at humor. “That’s right, keep laughing. It’s so funny to see Buffy covered in chocolate with whipped cream and cherries on top.”

This produced another guffaw from Xander, and Buffy turned to him with daggers in her eyes, “Don’t even start Xander. How about we get together again tomorrow and figure out how to get rid of this thing? I’d really like to have at least one night of patrol that doesn’t ruin my clothes. And right now I’m dripping on Giles’ floor.”

“Actually, Buffy,” Willow explained, “I’m going to go scry the ritual for us, so I’ll be able to tell you who did the summoning and hopefully how to reverse it.”

Buffy sighed in relief. “Awesome. Thanks, Will. You’re the best.”

Xander smiled at them all, and hopped off the couch with Anya. “And since we’re basically useless at this point – although I would like to point out I was the one who figured out which demon it was – how about An and I call it a night and let you get cleaned up?”

Buffy grinned back, “Perfect. Thanks, you guys, for helping figure out what it is.” Buffy smiled at everyone gratefully, hoping they’d go so she could clean off another night’s goop. Willow grabbed her bag and Tara stood as well.

Willow turned back to Buffy, “I should have the scrying done in a couple of hours. Do you want me to call you when I’ve figured it out?”

“Yeah, but call here.” Buffy hoped she wasn’t jumping to conclusions, but figured she and Giles could talk, if nothing else, after she got cleaned up. She carefully didn’t look at Giles, though. “It’ll take me a while to get clean. But I want to take care of this tonight if you figure out who it is I have to take care of.”

Willow nodded and she and Tara left, discussing the herbs they’d need.

After holding the door for Willow and Tara, Giles closed and locked it. He turned towards his whipped cream covered Slayer. She stood, dripping, cherries caught in her hair, whipped cream mixing with the chocolate, her expression suddenly mischievous. He raised a questioning eyebrow at her.

“Wanna help me clean up?” she invited.

Giles pretended to consider her offer, for a nanosecond, then grinned. “I’d hoped you would ask. I haven’t had dessert yet.” Buffy snorted, but her smile lit the room.

Giles crossed the room in two strides, lifting her chocolate and cream-spattered hand to his lips. Buffy gasped as he began to nibble on the palm of her hand, sucking off cream and grazing blunted teeth across her sensitive skin. Every nibble sent bolts of heat through her nerve endings. He looked up from her hand with a laugh dancing in his eyes.

“Shall we get you in the shower, love?”

“Yes, please.”

*******************************

Giles started the shower as Buffy pulled the soiled jacket from her shoulders and held it dripping over the tub. She picked off all the cherries that hadn’t fallen off on her way home and threw them into the bathroom trashcan. Once the water was warm, she climbed under the spray and pulled her sticky clothes off. She peeked out from behind the shower curtain to watch as Giles shucked his clothes. She sighed deeply, admiring every inch of skin revealed. He was like a present that unwrapped himself.

He looked up at her sigh and smiled at her with such tenderness that she thought she’d melt on the spot.

“Get over here,” she commanded.

“Coming . . .”

He climbed into the shower, reaching for her as he stepped in, trying to pull her into a kiss. She stopped him with a hand to his chest. “Hold on just a sec, I’m still too goopy, mister. You’re just gonna have to wait until I get a little cleaner.” Buffy turned to stand directly under the water, and began to wipe her body down with her hands.

Giles grabbed the washcloth and soap. He wrapped his arms around her so he could wet the washcloth in the spray, and in the process managed to show Buffy just how happy he was to be in the shower with her. She gave up her fight to get clean and leaned back against his chest, rubbing her ass against his erection, loving the feel of his arms around her. She was warmed by the shower on one side, and by the knee-trembling heat coming from Giles on the other. His teeth nibbled at her earlobe, making her shiver just a little in his arms.

“Cold?” he whispered into her ear.

“N-not exactly,” she said as she rubbed herself against him. His hands moved to clasp her hips, and she chuckled as he dropped the washcloth to be able to hold her. She half turned towards him. “Hey, pick that back up. One of us is way too sticky, and the other is getting that way fast.”

“I can’t argue with that.” With a chuckle of his own, Giles knelt down in the shower to grab the washcloth. He looked up the line of her body and couldn’t resist licking a little chocolate that had landed on her hip. Buffy, surprised by his mouth on her skin, turned to face him completely, presenting him with the most magnificent view. Despite the chocolate and cream still dripping from her shoulders and chest, she was beautiful with water running down her curves. His breath caught. She smiled at him, reaching one hand to trail her fingers along his lips again.

He kissed them, then moved forwards to grab her hips and bring them close to his mouth. She gasped when his lips touched her sex, gasped again as his mouth moved on her. She clenched her hand in his hair as the tip of his tongue darted to taste her. His mouth was incredibly hot, and she writhed a little as her body reacted to his tongue. He pulled her closer, almost off balance, nibbling and kissing her clit with a devouring mouth.

She began to moan and gasp above him, both hands moving to his shoulders to try to keep her balance. Suddenly she cried out a sharp high noise, her body, for one moment, going completely rigid.

Giles rose to hold her in his arms while she panted. Once Buffy recovered she pulled the washcloth out of his hand. “All that just because I asked you to pick up the washcloth?”

“What can I say?” Giles unrepentantly replied. “I got distracted.”

She laughed, and sudsed up the washcloth to finally get the remains of the demon’s goo off of them both. Once she’d soaped her own body she turned the washcloth on Giles, soaping everywhere that he’d touched her and gotten sticky. He laughed as she soaped his chest and shoulders, while he ran slicked hands from her breasts to her waist again and again. She pulled him further under the water with her, so they could rinse off together.

She leaned into him, and his arms went around her. Boldly, she took his cock in her soapy hand. He growled at the contact, pulling her tighter against him. She looked up to find his eyes closed and his head tilted back, the long line of his neck exposed. She leaned forward to bite him, her hand still stroking his length between them. Giles groaned at that, and she began to stroke him faster. She’d never realized showers could be so fun. His cock slid so delightfully through her palm. Giles’ hips began to thrust in time with her movements, and now it was his turn to clutch her shoulders as she tightened her grip.

He opened his eyes and crushed her lips to his. No gentle kisses this time; she was swept away by the passion in his touch. But she wanted to taste him, too, so she ripped her lips from his and sank to her knees in the water, rinsing him a little before taking him into her mouth.

“Dear lord, Buffy!” he cried out as she wrapped her tongue around his length. She was beginning to love the new way he said her name.

She pulled him closer, her hands closing on his adorable ass. She tried to take every inch into her mouth, sucking and licking. His body began to tremble and Buffy knew he was getting closer, but his hands pulled her back up against him.

“Why did you make me stop?” she asked as began to kiss her neck and shoulders.

“Because I want to be buried inside you when I come,” he growled, before ravishing her mouth again. She gave back as good as she got, wrapping her arms around his shoulders as their tongues dueled. He picked her up and leaned her against the cool tile, his hips twitching, rubbing his prick along her opening. Buffy arched her back, tilting her hips to maneuver him inside her. He teased her for a second, until she made a small sound of protest. Slowly his cock pierced her, slowly she pulsed downwards, feeling every inch of him sliding in, filling her. The water made everything happen so smoothly, and suddenly he was completely buried in her, his lips at her shoulder, his hands at her hips, holding her close to him.

They moved together, letting the heat build where their bodies connected. His hips languorously began to push against hers. She moaned every time he arched, her hands gripping his shoulders. They both began to thrust faster, the slap of Buffy’s hips against the wall blending with the sound of falling water. Buffy’s cries turned louder, more frantic, as her hands and hips urged Giles on. She came, panting his name, shuddering against the tiles as he thrust deeply into her. Moments later, Giles thrust a final time, his muscles turning to steel beneath her as his own orgasm struck.

Panting Giles put Buffy back on her feet. She reached out to pull him close, and they stood with the water sluicing off their bodies, kissing under the shower for a few minutes, just basking in each other’s embrace. When the water turned cold, Buffy leaned over to turn the shower off.

“Hmm, pretty good for an apartment. You must have the world’s biggest water heater,” she commented as she grabbed a towel.

Giles’ forehead crinkled in thought as he toweled himself off. “I’ve never had the opportunity to test it before.”

She turned to him. “I think I’m glad about that. Glad I got to test it with you.”

He smiled at her. “I am, as well. Thank you.” He grabbed his robe and held it out for Buffy to climb into. She snuggled into the cloth again, then pulled his arms to wrap them around her.

“You know, this is two nights in a row. I don’t think I’m going to be able to give up your robe very easily.”

“You know you don’t have to, love.”

The phone rang, surprising both out of their adoring expressions. At Buffy’s questioning look, Giles murmured, “Willow.” Buffy laughed. She’d completely forgotten Willow was going to call.

Giles padded into the living room in his towel to pick up the phone, Buffy admiring the view as he walked away.

She hugged herself a little. [How did I miss seeing him before? He’s gorgeous. He’s perfect. It’s like I was blind. Well, not anymore.] She walked out to wrap her arms around him. [In fact, it’s like my eyes are staked open. He’s the *one*.] She hugged him tighter as that thought sank in, and his arm wrapped around her in return.

She could faintly hear Willow’s voice on the other end of the line. [Slayer hearing comes in handy again.] Apparently Jonathan, the guy who tried to kill himself in high school, summoned the demon.

“I’m not exactly sure about this,” Willow continued, “I think the demon might be spitting ice cream sundae ingredients on people because Jonathan actually left an ice cream sundae in the circle when he did the casting. I’ve never seen anything so weird.” Willow giggled. “At least Buffy didn’t get covered in ice cream! Or maybe the demon’s saving it for a third attack. But after Jonathan raised the demon it looks like it covered him in chocolate too. And Jonathan destroyed the circle by accident. He just kind of fell over.”

“Wonderful, Willow. Were you able to see where he is, or where he performed the spell?” Giles asked.

“Not at first. But the demon kind of hovered over Jonathan until he woke up, then he ran screaming out of the house and the demon followed him.” Willow’s voice got excited. “It’s right by my parents house! The demon got outside and then started to walk the other direction from Jonathan, so he crept back into his house. Buffy must’ve run up a couple of minutes after it got out. Anyway, it’s two doors down on the south side of the street.”

“Brilliant.” Giles thought for a few minutes. “The demon is probably harmless. The addition of the ice cream sundae to the circle may have combined with the demon’s essence when it materialized. Its powers have been channeled into this material form. However, we should still send it back to its own dimension. I think perhaps we ought to take care of this tonight.” He looked at Buffy for confirmation, and she nodded her head in agreement. “Willow, can you meet us in front of Jonathan’s house in a half an hour? You and I can perform the reversal ritual.”

“Absolutely! What should I bring?”

“Can you tell what ingredients Jonathan used for his original spell?”

“Yes, I think so.”

“Bring those. We shouldn’t have a problem finding the demon – it will lurk in the area of the summoner until it’s been released from this dimension.”

“That’s why it was in the same neighborhood last night,” Buffy mused. Giles nodded in response.

“Don’t go in until we get there, Willow. I don’t know why Jonathan hasn’t banished the demon already, but there may be some reason. We should all go in together.”

”No problem,” Willow responded, the excitement in her tone at doing the spell slightly dampened. “I’ll meet you guys in front of his place in half an hour. Bye!”

Giles hung up the phone and turned to take Buffy more fully into his arms. “Shall we get dressed and get rid of this demon?”

She hugged him close. “We shall.”

*******************************

“Jonathan?” Buffy called as she walked down the basement stairs of his house. Willow and Giles followed behind. “Hello? Anyone home?”

She heard a slight whimper and followed the sound to its source. She found a huddled mass in the corner. She reached forward to help him stand up. “Jonathan? What happened to you?”

“Is it still here?” Jonathan whimpered.

“Well, we hope so. Somewhere. Otherwise it’s out covering someone else with chocolate.”

“Oh, god. I can’t handle this.” Jonathan sat back down and put his face in his hands. Even though he looked pretty wretched, Buffy didn’t have much sympathy for him. After all, he was the reason not one, but two, of her outfits had been completely ruined.

“You can so handle this. If I can handle being covered with whipped cream and cherry vomit from a demon you summoned, you can totally handle the fact we’re sending it back. What did you think you were doing summoning a demon?”

Jonathan stared up at her, “It was the perfect plan. I was trying to get up the courage to ask Angelina out before she moved away. Ipos was supposed to imbue me with mythical wit and boldness. I was going to summon it and ask her out. But when I called it, it barfed chocolate me and chased me out into the street. That wasn’t supposed to happen. And now I think it’s hanging around outside the front of the house.” He hung his head in misery. “I’ve been too afraid to go outside. I don’t even know if Angelina’s still here.”

“Well, you might’ve tried showing up on her doorstep covered in chocolate and seen how that worked for you,” Buffy heartlessly teased him. She heard Giles cough behind her and turned to grin at him. Willow was engrossed with Jonathan’s ritual circle and missed their entire exchange. “Anyway, we’re here to send the demon back. So you’d better hope it gets here in the next couple of minutes.”

Jonathan looked frightened again, but Buffy wasn’t about to let him hide in a corner. She was about to start lecturing him when he gasped and pointed at the top of the stairs. The demon stood in the doorway, then began to shamble down. Buffy stood at the bottom step and called to Giles and Willow. “Guys? You ready for this thing?”

Willow looked up from the circle she’d drawn over Jonathan’s on the floor and nodded. Giles responded, “We’re ready Buffy. Don’t hurt the demon. Hopefully it wants to go back to its own dimension as much as we want to send it. Simply let it take its place in the circle.”

Buffy took a step backward, trying to remain menacing, but not scare the monster away again. If it tried anything . . .

But it seemed it was her night, for once. Willow began to chant and the demon moved to stand directly in the middle of the circle. Giles added his voice to Willow’s, and suddenly the circle flared white. The light engulfed the demon’s body, but not before they heard it say, “Thank you. That manifestation was simply foul. I hate chocolate.”

Buffy let out a breath of relief. “Everyone thinks they’re a joker, don’t they?” She turned to Giles and Willow. “Now that you guys have done your good deed for the day, let’s go home.” The both nodded, Willow closing the circle and beginning to pick up the magical items she’d brought with her.

Buffy walked back to where Jonathan still sat on the floor. “Jonathan, a couple of words of wisdom for you. One, don’t ever leave an ice cream sundae in your casting circle. Even I know that. Two, don’t use demons to get girls. Trust me, it never works. Three, if I ever find you raising demons again I won’t be so gentle. So don’t do it, okay?”

Jonathan blinked at her, her words sinking in. “I had my dessert in the casting circle?”

Buffy shook her head in dismay. “Was that the only thing you heard me say? Yes, you are a big magical dummy who left your dessert in the circle. Even the demon wasn’t happy that it had to spew chocolate. And since that seemed to be the only thing you heard, I’ll say this again: DON’T DO IT AGAIN!”

“Okay! Okay! I hear you.” Jonathan shrank away from Buffy. Satisfied she’d yelled him into submission, she joined Giles and Willow on the stairs.

*******************************

Back on the street Willow waved goodnight and headed home to Tara. Buffy stood close to Giles as she waved, wondering just a little that her best friend hadn’t noticed her new happy grin yet. [Oh well. Maybe tomorrow. I’m definitely going to tease her about this later though.]

A thought occurred to her. “Hey, Giles, if that demon was supposed to make men witty and bold, is that what prompted you to attack me after I got out of the shower last night?”

Giles paused, considering his answer before he spoke. “I wouldn’t normally have ‘attacked’ you. Not that I hadn’t *thought* about doing similar things before. I simply never acted on them. But,” he turned to wrap Buffy into his arms, “the demon’s influence would only last for a few minutes because I’d ingested so little of the chocolate. Except for that little push, my actions were entirely my own.”

She smiled. “That’s what I hoped you’d say.” They turned to walk towards his apartment. Buffy tried to formulate her next question in as non-threatening a way as she could. She didn’t want to ask him the heavy emotional questions right now, figuring there’d be time enough later to tell him how much she loved him, and see if he loved her too. She hoped so. But she didn’t want to wake up without him either. After a couple of steps, she finally got the words together and stopped him to ask, “I have another question for you. Can we make the current sleeping arrangement permanent?”

His smile made his eyes crinkle. “Only on one condition.” She held her breath, suddenly worried he was going to ask her something weird. “Do you love me?”

She flung herself into his arms and pulled his lips down to hers, trying to express just how much she loved him in a kiss. Her own knees got weak with his enthusiastic response. When she felt like she wasn’t going to be able to stand up anymore she released his lips.

“May I take that as a yes, then?” he asked.

She whacked him softly on the arm. “Yes!” Her face drew into pouty lines and she looked up at him with puppy dog eyes. “But you still haven’t told me how you feel about me.”

His arms pulled her tight against him. “You mean you don’t know?” he teased. She shook her head no, but her joy danced in her eyes. “I love you. When I woke with you in my arms this morning I never wanted you to leave. I think I might even love you more than tweed.”

Buffy gasped, then laughed and pulled him to her. The smile that remained on her face was impossibly huge. “That’ll have to do.”

He laughed and put his arm around her shoulders. As they walked away, Buffy raised the last question of the evening. “Now, who are we going to get to tell Mom?”

“What about Xander? He already knows.”

She was startled enough to stop walking. “He does?”

“He is rather observant sometimes.”

Buffy smiled. “Perfect.” They started down the street again. “Mom’s always liked him. She won’t kill him, right?”

“Probably not. We can hope.”


~the end~

*******************************

Requirements:
1) Both Buffy and Giles laughing (they didn't laugh enough on the show)
2) Xander as the Scooby who sees B/G potential or isn't surprised when it happens
3) Buffy and Giles feeding each other finger foods as a prelude to or part of the sex.
Restriction: Absolutely no BDSM (and that includes silk scarves used consensually). I have a gigantic squick about that.