Giles Shorts

Title: Strange How the Knight Moves
Author: Quaggy
Word Count: 100
Last line prompt: “Think very carefully about your next move.”
Notes: I couldn't resist the pun on the Bob Seger song for the title.


“Think very carefully about your next move,” Giles cautioned.

Buffy huffed in aggravation and stared at the chessboard. She didn’t need the reminder. She knew she was in trouble and Giles’s grin confirmed it. He claimed that playing chess would sharpen her ability to think strategically, but privately she suspected that he liked it because he could beat her this way without taking a physical beating in the process. But wait… If she took her knight and moved it…

“CHECK!!!”

She may not have the upper hand for long, but it was worth it for the look on Giles’s face.

Title: High and Dry
Author: Quaggy
Word Count: 500 approx.
Rating: G
Rewind Prompt: Horsepower (His Favorite Things)
Notes: This is as much inspired by the Radiohead song "High and Dry" as it was by the "Horsepower" prompt, more for the mood that the song than the actual lyrics. Well, other than the "flying on your motorcycle" line, of course.



It was the first sunny day in forever. Buffy had opened the window to get some fresh air in her room, when a movement from the courtyard of the Slayer Compound below caught her eye. She watched as Giles pulled out his motorcycle, a classic bike from the 1960s that he was absolutely crazy about. It was the perfect day to take a ride through the English countryside. He looked utterly happy in a way she hadn’t been used to seeing until recently. He was so in his element here, teaching Slayers how to be Slayers and Watcher how to be Watchers. It was clear that he had found his place and was completely at peace.

She was not. She’d never felt more useless and alone. They all said they needed her, but she really didn’t see it. Anybody could teach these baby Slayers just as well or even better than she could. But the real problem was when class was over. She just didn’t fit in anywhere. She was too young to really relate to the other teachers, all retired Watchers, some of whom were decades older than Giles. She was too under-educated and over-experienced to have much to talk about with the Watchers-in-training. And she was too old to hang with the other Slayers, even if she wasn’t their teacher. Giles was the only one that she was truly comfortable with, but that was part of the problem. The more time that she spent with him, the more that the wayward feelings she thought she had buried long ago began to resurface.

Maybe it was time to move on. Find her own place in the world, if such a place existed. At least go somewhere where the sky was blue on a regular basis. Go someplace where her heart wouldn’t break over something she’d never have. Yes, she knew what she should do and it was well past time that she did it. Buffy closed her eyes and turned her head away from Giles and towards the sun to better feel its warmth on her face. She only opened her eyes when she heard someone call her name.

“Buffy!” Giles called again and waved when she looked his way. He looked so like an excited child that she couldn’t help but smile.

“Off for a ride?” she called back.

“Yes! Would you like to come?” he asked with eager enthusiasm. Buffy paused. On one hand, she really shouldn’t. Snuggled up next to him on the back of his bike would only make her inconvenient crush worse. On the other hand, she didn’t think she had it in her to outright reject him like that. As if sensing her indecision, Giles waved his hand beckoningly, beaming at her all the while. And Buffy was lost.

“I’ll be right down,” she called and, if possible, Giles’s grin grew even wider. Oh, this wasn’t good for her heart at all, but, honestly, how could she resist?

Title: Getting On With It
Author: Quaggy
Category: Post-Series
Rating: PG
Notes: I've had this plot bunny for a while, but this week's theme of "Getting On" proved to be a rich soil to let it grow.


( Willow's on a mission... )

Title: Fool That I Am
Author: Quaggy
Category: Post-Series
Rating: G
Pairings: A whole lot of unrequited feelings going on with a mention or two of past relationships
Notes: Written for the giles_shorts prompt "Fool". Dawn and Buffy talk about unrequited love. The focus is mainly on the sisters, but Giles does make and appearance at the end.


( Fool that I am for falling in love with you... )

Last drabbles for the last day of a fun month. These two are linked.

Title: Go Where You’re Needed
Author: Quaggy
Word Count: 100
Pairing: Buffy/Giles
Last line prompt: "She turned and looked at him so sadly."


She turned and looked at him so sadly when he said that he was returning to England, but she didn’t seem surprised.

“I figured. You need to set up operations in London, right?”

“Yes, but I can stay here, if I’m needed.” But his words seemed to only make her more forlorn.

“Not as much as you are there. No one else can do what you do.” And suddenly, Giles realized that in a world full of Slayers, Buffy might reasonably assume that no one needed her.

Except he did. Down to his very soul.

“Buffy, please? Come with me?”



Title: Stay Where You Belong
Author: Quaggy
Word Count: 100
Pairing: Buffy/Giles
Last line prompt: "It didn’t matter how much she begged."


It didn’t matter how much she begged, Giles would eventually leave again. Buffy knew that without needing to be told. She just wasn’t enough to keep him by her side.

But she never expected that he’d ask her to go with him.

“You mean that?”

“With all my heart.” His voice shook with emotion and she knew he wasn’t lying.

“If I come with you, you’ll never be able to get rid of me,” she warned, blinking back tears.

“Promise?”

It was hard to say who reached for who first, but neither one had any intention of ever letting go.