dhw: (Default)
[personal profile] dhw
Title: Roots
Rating: T
Challenge: Home

A/N: Inspired by The Case of Death and Honey by Neil Gaimain.
Part of the Sanctuary universe (a prequel, of a sort, if you like), but can be read as a stand alone. All you need to know is that Giles has a magic garden left to him by his mother.


---



If the months that followed her death had been strange, then the ones that followed her resurrection were more so. He didn’t stay in California. Couldn’t. Not after all had been said and done. It was all too surreal, watching the corpse that wasn’t walking, talking. Breathing. It was strange and wrong. After all, how could you grieve for the undead?

He couldn’t stay. So, he didn’t.

He simply made his excuses, as transparent as glass, and that was it; Giles returned to his shabby flat in Bath. To the post that had piled up in the box and the out of date milk in the fridge. To the answering machine filled with messages from his employer, his therapist, his aunts (none of which merited a reply).

And life went on. She lived, and so did he, in his own small, unassuming way. He made no new friends, nor reacquainted himself with any of his old ones. Instead, he sat in his arm chair and read until the sun dipped below the horizon, his escape from the realities of the day broken only by the occasional need for tea and to receive the greasy takeaways from the shop two streets over.

Christmas came and went, the new year beginning with more of a whisper than a bang. And in the spring, when the snowdrops were wilting and the daffodils just beginning to bloom, he let out his flat and left the city for good.

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quaggy: Buffy from BtVS looking over at Giles (Buffy)
[personal profile] quaggy
Title: He Has His Reasons
Author: Quaggy
Word Count: 200
Giles's Record Collection Prompt: "I Found a Reason" (Velvet Underground)
Notes: Crossed posted on my journal and over here on AO3.


It wasn’t easy returning to the Council fold. The snide remarks. The smug looks. Not to mention, the outright hostility.

“Honestly, right now, the only thing keeping me going is pure obstinacy. That and not wanting to disappoint Gran,” he confessed to his parents on a visit home.

“There are worse reasons, Rupert,” his mother said gently.

“Not disappointing my mother is a bloody good reason, if you ask me,” his father interjected. His wife shot him a glare.

“If I might continue?” she asked.

“Yes, dear. Sorry,” her husband replied, contritely, as her son bit back a grin. His mum and gran were the only people he knew who could keep his dad in line.

“Rupert, my darling, don’t lose heart,” his mother continued, taking his hand. “Remember that someday you are going to find not just reasons to keep going, but the reason that will make it all worth it. I promise you will.”

“Thanks, Mum.” The thought did help. (Though he wouldn’t truly understand what she meant until the day he’d met Buffy Summers, someone beyond his current ability to imagine.) “I just wish it’d happen soon.”

“Well, in the meantime, there’s always blackmail,” his father offered.
 
 

il_mio_capitano: (Default)
[personal profile] il_mio_capitano
Title: The Other Family Business
Author: il-mio-capitano
Length: 100
Rating: FRC
Characters: Giles, Giles' mum, Giles' uncle



"The shop is yours, some day. If you work hard, my lad."

"Really?" Rupert's eyes were on stalks. His uncle's store held at least sixty different blends of tea and countless other portions and powders that he weighed carefully for customers, wrapping them in brown paper and finishing with ribbon and sealing wax. Behind the counter were numerous wooden drawers with brass handles. All, no doubt, containing magic.

"Mum, can I work here during my school holidays?"

"I think your father has other ideas. Don't encourage him, Frank. It's almost time."

His uncle shrugged.

"A boy should be allowed dreams."

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