The food had been finished and cleared away, the level on the bottle of wine had sunk further and Buffy was finally reaching the end of a long, rambling explanation that began from when Giles had walked out on her in Rome and ended with the two Slayers fighting.
‘I don’t understand why you felt the need to go to such extraordinary lengths just to prove a point.’
‘It wasn’t supposed to last this long,’ said Buffy. ’I thought you’d spot me in about ten minutes and we’d move on, but you weren’t there.’
‘So you were forced to endure three months of training,’ smirked Giles.
‘It isn’t funny. I’ve been busting my ass trying to keep up.’
‘You’re right it really isn’t funny,’ agreed Giles, then despite himself began to laugh. ‘Buffy Summers - Watcher Extraordinaire.’
He pulled himself together, continuing in a much more serious fashion.
‘Martin Stanger has been working so hard on your, on Elizabeth’s behalf. He will feel quite betrayed by this and he will not be alone.’
Buffy bit her lip.
‘It all got out of control. I didn’t mean for this to happen.’
‘Is that it? Tomorrow morning I will have to stand before my colleagues and tell them that that despite the values we seek to instil, in practice my relationship with my Slayer is so flawed that she would rather lie and encourage others to lie for her, engaging in a pointless and prolonged deception than talk to me.’
‘I’m not your Slayer, you retired me,’ said Buffy recklessly.
‘And all you had to do to make your displeasure known was pick up the phone. Not indulge yourself i-in in this meaningless charade!’
Giles grabbed his cigarettes, on lighting up threw his lighter down and went and leaned with his back against the counter.
‘I could lose my job, did you think of that? Because such an epic breach of security has occurred on my watch as it were, the Senior Council could force my resignation.’
Buffy hung her head, blinking back tears of self-pity and regret.
‘The money The Council gave you was to start a new life, and you possess the potential to achieve anything you set your mind to,’ said Giles his innate pride of Buffy dampening his anger and softening his voice to a tone that broke her heart. ‘I can‘t start again, it is too late.’
Buffy didn’t respond. Giles seemed to have talked himself out and she definitely didn‘t want to provoke him further. She’d known that Giles’ initial pleasure on seeing her would wear off and that he had every right to be angry, yet Buffy hadn’t expected to feel this bad. She could get Giles sacked, he would never forgive her and she’d never forgive herself.
Without focussing on what she was doing, Buffy started to fiddle with Giles’ lighter. It’s ostentatious golden veneer made it seem such an unlikely choice for someone she knew to be wholly uninterested in material possessions. Then she saw the quote engraved on the back, and figured that it must have been a present.
‘What does this mean?’ Asked Buffy waving the lighter, curiosity overcoming her instinctive silence. ‘Vitae Summa Brevis…’
Unable to tolerate her unintentional mangling of the language, Giles smoothly took over.
‘Vitae Summa Brevis Spem Nos Vetat Incohore Longam. The shortness of life prevents us from entertaining far-off hopes,’ he translated.
‘Why would someone give you such a depressing gift?’ Wondered Buffy aloud.
Giles shook his head and came and sat back down, taking the lighter from Buffy, turning it over and over in his hand.
‘My god-daughter gave it to me - she thinks I work too hard, this is a-a warning to take the time to relax.’
‘Warning?’
‘ They are not long, the weeping and the laughter,
Love and desire and hate:
I think they have no portion in us after
We pass the gate.
They are not long, the days of wine and roses:
Out of a misty dream
Our path emerges for a while, then closes
Within a dream.’
Buffy stared at Giles spellbound by the unselfconscious intensity of his recitation.
‘The Latin is the title,’ he finished simply.
‘Woah,’ sighed Buffy. ‘That’s beautiful and also weirdly over-educated, I woulda had ‘relax’ or maybe ‘chill’ put on it.’
They both laughed.
‘Why can I never stay angry with you?’
Giles sounded genuinely puzzled.
Buffy felt flustered and dodged the question.
‘Why are you smoking anyway?’
‘Hopelessly addicted. I’ve given up a few times and always ended up starting again. Lack of of self-control, I’m afraid.’
‘You’ll kill yourself,’ said Buffy annoyed that someone so clever could wilfully do something so stupid.
‘Such concern for my welfare is touching.’
She frowned in reaction to his sarcasm.
‘Don’t. You know I care about you. The last three months not being the greatest example,’ Buffy quickly added anxious not to start the debate over her behaviour again. ‘I care about you so much, you must know that.’
She moved towards Giles, placing her hand on top of the one that then instantly stopped playing with the lighter.
‘I do. I wish we could have talked about this,’ said Giles regretfully.
‘I tried when we were in Rome.’
‘I remember you kissing and then punching me. Perhaps the blow was so severe it has rendered me unable recall what happened inbetween.’
‘Nah, that’s about right. I said I tried. Didn’t say I did a good job.’
Giles took off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose.
‘What a mess. I-I really don’t know what to do.’
Buffy did. With a certainty borne of months of thought and anticipation, she inched a little closer and kissed Giles who froze for a moment then held Buffy close.
‘Wow. That was worth losing my Watcher disguise for.’
Giles pulled away.
‘What did you just say?’
Buffy repeated herself wondering where this was leading.
‘The demon drawn Watcher and the disguised Slayer,’ said Giles to himself as the prophecy he’d so casually dismissed earlier in the day forced its way back into his thoughts. ‘Oh dear Lord.’
‘Giles, what is it? You only say that when we’re in trouble, like slime, magics and demons type trouble.’
‘I think that we are.’
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