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janedavitt Aug. 23rd, 2004 11:10 am)
janedavitt Aug. 23rd, 2004 11:10 am)First, Happy Birthday ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
beccaelizabeth! I hope the day brings you all you want,and more. ::many hugs::
I'm just getting ready to wave David off :;sigh:: After him being home all last week, he goes back to work today - and flies out to Philadelphia at noon, won't be back until late Wednesday. Not too long, but still...::pouts and quivers lip::
My recent Giles/Willow fic, In Patience Possess seemed to cry out for a sequel with smut. You might not have heard it wailing, but I did ::grin:: I also felt guilty thatlovesbitca didn't exactly get the threesome she wanted, with Wesley in the mix.
So here's part one of a planned two part coda, set a few months later on in England, in the summer between S6 and S7. If you're a Giles/Willow 'shipper, this is going to have Giles/Wesley as well as G/W and G/W/W, just to warn you. And probably spanking in part two, because this is going to be an indulgence fic. Slash, spanking, smut...yes, I think that about covers it :-) this part is R, barely; the next part will be more like NC17. It's unbeta'd and sort of off the cuff.
Taking Leave
“You’re leaving tomorrow then, Wesley?” Giles asked.
Wesley frowned. “You know I am,” he said, with some asperity. “You’re the one who volunteered to get up at an unearthly hour and run me to the airport.”
“So I did,” Giles murmured. He nodded at a bench placed at the heart of the coven’s herb garden and then bent to pluck a sprig of lemon balm, bruising it between his fingers and giving the crushed leaves an appreciative sniff. “Shall we sit for a moment? There’s something I’d like to ask you.”
“If it’s to stay longer, I can’t,” Wesley said, with a hint of regret in his voice, following Giles to the bench and sitting beside him. “This last month or so has been wonderfully relaxing, and I’ve had chance to study so many texts I never thought I’d have access to, that I don’t feel guilty about what’s been essentially a paid holiday, but I need to go back.”
“I know,” Giles said quietly. “You’ve been more than kind to stay this long; especially as Willow’s been so much better that I haven’t really needed your help to control her for a long time.”
“Oh,” Wesley said. “I’d – well, yes, I knew that she was improved, but –” He gave Giles a perplexed look. “You didn’t need me? Then why am I still here?”
Giles stared at him thoughtfully, wondering how frank he should be. They’d arrived with Willow still hovering on the edge of hysteria and Giles himself not far off collapsing. Wesley had seen to all the details of entering the country, got them to this remote location – and then been the one to fall to pieces. Slowly, over the summer months, Wesley had healed, body and spirit, taking solace in the complete change of scenery and the undoubted fact that he was needed and valued.
The women of the coven had clucked sympathetically over all three of them, but Wesley, wan and pale, the scar across his throat livid and raw, had been mothered and spoiled while Giles watched, amused and slightly touched. That scar was still there but Wesley no longer hid it and under a variety of ointments and charms, it had faded to a silver-white line.
Wesley was ready to go back to the city he’d left with such bitterness of feeling. Whether he could reconcile with his friends, Giles didn’t know; Angel and Cordelia were still missing and he knew that Wesley was determined to find them because all his spare time had been spent researching location spells...but if even if he succeeded, there was no guarantee that he could regain a trust Giles felt he deserved to have and should never have lost.
“Because we wanted you to be,” Giles said, after a barely perceptible pause. Wesley was still inclined to be a little prickly about accepting favours; telling him that his sojourn had been designed to let him recover would have sent him across the Atlantic at once. “Willow and I might have resolved our differences, but she’s still inclined to be...difficult and she listens to you more than to me sometimes.”
“It’s because I’m not in love with her,” Wesley said with a brutal frankness. “She knows she’s got you just where she wants you.” He grinned, without the coldness he would once have shown. “One flutter of her lashes, one shy smile and Rupert loses all his willpower; isn’t that right?”
“Nonsense,” Giles said huffily, knowing it was completely accurate. “I’m not so easily manipulated.”
Wesley patted Giles’ knee gently. “It works both ways. I can force her to obey, but to get your approval, I believe she’d do just about anything.”
“You know we’re lovers now,” Giles said abruptly.
A faint flush rose in Wesley’s cheeks. “I, ah, took a walk in the woods a few nights ago. I hope you believe that I didn’t linger, but –”
Giles looked away, torn between amusement, pride and shyness. “I’m so sorry,” he said. “She – well, when it comes to that, yes, I am easily persuaded. She had this idea that it would be romantic to make love under the moon.”
“And was it?” Wesley said dryly, his composure seemingly returned.
“The earth’s hard,” Giles said. “My knees still ache; I got a beetle exploring parts of me I’d rather he hadn’t, and it rained on the way back.” A fleeting memory of Willow’s slender body, cool and fresh, straining against his, her hands gripping at his shoulders as she came, crossed his mind, and he smiled. “It was worth it, though I think I perform at my best on a bed these days.”
If he’d expected to fluster Wesley, he was disappointed. The other man simply raised an eyebrow and drawled out, “Really?” in what might have passed for a teasing tone of voice.
Giles relaxed. Perhaps this wouldn’t be as difficult as he’d feared. “Wesley, as this is your last night and Lord knows when we’ll meet up again, I was wondering – and please feel free to stalk off in outrage, attempt, unsuccessfully of course, to hit me, or simply laugh –”
“Giles, spit it out,” Wesley said kindly if bluntly. “Whatever it is, I’m sure –”
“We want you to share our bed tonight,” Giles said, feeling his hand curl into a tight fist as he waited for Wesley’s response, but striving to keep his voice casual. “By way of a thank you and a farewell.”
“Now that I wasn’t expecting,” Wesley said, running a slightly unsteady hand through his hair. “Giles, it’s- kind – of you, of you both, but I don’t think –”
“It’s not kind at all,” Giles said. “It’s also not entirely selfless of me and it’s not just for the reasons I gave.”
Wesley waited, seemingly lost for words, and Giles continued. “Think of it as Willow’s graduation.”
“I don’t understand,” Wesley said flatly.
Reaching out slowly, Giles traced Wesley’s scar, feeling the thickened skin catch at his fingers. “She wants to take this away completely. She says you don’t need it anymore.” The skin jerked as Wesley swallowed and Giles let his hand drop away. “You know she’s been doing small bits of magic; supervised, simple stuff. She’s capable of far more, and I’ve been trying to make her see that. Now she agrees.”
“But why does she want to do that?” Wesley said, his voice harsh, making him sound as he had when he first arrived with the injury still fresh.
“You don’t want it gone?” Giles asked.
“Yes – no.” Wesley made a frustrated sound and glanced away from Giles. “It’s not pretty, I know. It’s why I hid it, but everyone here – no one seemed to mind, or to care –”
“They care,” Giles said quietly.
“Yes. They do. But I need it there when I look in the mirror. Need the reminder not to be such a fool ever again.”
“Willow says you don’t.”
“Perhaps Willow can mind her own damn business!” Wesley snapped.
“I agree with her,” Giles said mildly. “You’re not a child, Wesley. You don’t need a visible reminder, and I’m fairly certain you’ll be a fool again with or without it. We all do foolish things sometimes.”
Wesley gave him a disgusted look. “Giles, that’s not remotely comforting.”
“It wasn’t meant to be. Well? Do I tell her that you don’t trust her enough to let her perform magic on you?” A low blow but he didn’t feel in the least bit repentant.
“Oh, she can try,” Wesley said, his shoulders slumping slightly. “It’s not as if I like having it...” He stared down at his hands, linked on his knee, and said with a trace of humour, “But it’s news to me that a healing spell requires the participants get quite as close as you suggest. Am I supposed to pretend I don’t know that? Or is this spell a variant on the old line about coming up to your room to see your etchings?”
Giles laughed. “It’s not necessary at all, “ he assured him, “although Willow did say it would make it easier to form a connection after we’d –”
“Yes,” Wesley said a little hastily. “That’s true of course, but it still doesn’t mean we should – Giles, you must see this is impossible! You and Willow have barely got to know each other; you can’t want to risk all that for a – well why do you want to do this?”
“It was Willow’s idea,” Giles admitted, feeling his interest stir as a hurt look passed over Wesley’s face. What was that for? he wondered. “And it’s precisely because our relationship is so new that she wants to do it.” He shrugged. “She’s a little curious, I think. Apart from Oz, and they weren’t together all that long as lovers, I’m the only man she’s slept with. I think, much though she loves me, she’s keen to –”
“Experiment? See if the grass is greener?” Wesley sighed. “Giles, that really isn’t a good idea. I don’t want a pity fuck if you’ll excuse my bluntness, and I don’t think you should indulge Willow’s whims to quite that extent. Are you sure she’s not just testing you? Perhaps she’s waiting for you to get possessive and declare that if she so much as looks at another man – or woman – you’ll black her eye for her?”
Giles chuckled at the idea. “I don’t think I would, but I see your point. No; truly, it’s not that. The fact that this is most definitely a one off has been made very clear to me.” He wasn’t entirely surprised that Wesley wasn’t leaping at the chance; he’d been rather stunned himself when Willow had suggested it, and slightly uncomfortable too... “Wesley, stupid of me,” he said. “Would you prefer if it were just Willow? When I said ‘join us’, I wasn’t implying that you and I needed to be -”
He never got the chance to finish his hurried, not entirely sincere explanation. With a goaded look and a speed that took Giles quite by surprise, Wesley turned, grabbed Giles’ shirt and held him in place as he kissed him, hard enough to hurt, long enough for Giles to have ample time to get over his shock and respond warmly.
The kiss ended then, as if Wesley was prepared for rejection, but not acceptance. Breathing hard, he broke the kiss and shifted away, releasing Giles. “No, Giles,” he said tightly, standing up. “It wouldn’t be better if it were just Willow.” His lips quirked in a bitter smile. “You never realised she wasn’t the only one with a crush on you, back in Sunnydale? Oh, I didn’t fall in love with you but I had a bad case of hero worship and there were days when I came so close to – never mind.”
Giles thought back to the short time they’d worked together and sighed. “Oh God, Wesley. You hid it well. And I was so –”
“Scathing, scornful, dismissive and downright rude?” Wesley said. “Yes. You were. None of which helped to calm my ardour.”
“I’m sorry,” Giles said. “For then and for now. It was a stupid idea and I’ll explain to Willow that it’s impossible, without going into detail, of course. Do forgive me, Wesley.”
“No, you won’t,” Wesley said. “I’ll come to your room at ten, Giles. I have to finish packing first.” He turned and walked away quickly. His final words floated back to Giles. “Tell Willow she can join us at eleven precisely, and if she’s early she’ll have to take the consequences.”
Giles watched Wesley vanish out of sight and wondered just how Willow would take the change of plans and the news that she had to leave them alone until...He pursed his lips. 10.45 should be about right...
beccaelizabeth! I hope the day brings you all you want,and more. ::many hugs::I'm just getting ready to wave David off :;sigh:: After him being home all last week, he goes back to work today - and flies out to Philadelphia at noon, won't be back until late Wednesday. Not too long, but still...::pouts and quivers lip::
My recent Giles/Willow fic, In Patience Possess seemed to cry out for a sequel with smut. You might not have heard it wailing, but I did ::grin:: I also felt guilty that
lovesbitca didn't exactly get the threesome she wanted, with Wesley in the mix. So here's part one of a planned two part coda, set a few months later on in England, in the summer between S6 and S7. If you're a Giles/Willow 'shipper, this is going to have Giles/Wesley as well as G/W and G/W/W, just to warn you. And probably spanking in part two, because this is going to be an indulgence fic. Slash, spanking, smut...yes, I think that about covers it :-) this part is R, barely; the next part will be more like NC17. It's unbeta'd and sort of off the cuff.
Taking Leave
“You’re leaving tomorrow then, Wesley?” Giles asked.
Wesley frowned. “You know I am,” he said, with some asperity. “You’re the one who volunteered to get up at an unearthly hour and run me to the airport.”
“So I did,” Giles murmured. He nodded at a bench placed at the heart of the coven’s herb garden and then bent to pluck a sprig of lemon balm, bruising it between his fingers and giving the crushed leaves an appreciative sniff. “Shall we sit for a moment? There’s something I’d like to ask you.”
“If it’s to stay longer, I can’t,” Wesley said, with a hint of regret in his voice, following Giles to the bench and sitting beside him. “This last month or so has been wonderfully relaxing, and I’ve had chance to study so many texts I never thought I’d have access to, that I don’t feel guilty about what’s been essentially a paid holiday, but I need to go back.”
“I know,” Giles said quietly. “You’ve been more than kind to stay this long; especially as Willow’s been so much better that I haven’t really needed your help to control her for a long time.”
“Oh,” Wesley said. “I’d – well, yes, I knew that she was improved, but –” He gave Giles a perplexed look. “You didn’t need me? Then why am I still here?”
Giles stared at him thoughtfully, wondering how frank he should be. They’d arrived with Willow still hovering on the edge of hysteria and Giles himself not far off collapsing. Wesley had seen to all the details of entering the country, got them to this remote location – and then been the one to fall to pieces. Slowly, over the summer months, Wesley had healed, body and spirit, taking solace in the complete change of scenery and the undoubted fact that he was needed and valued.
The women of the coven had clucked sympathetically over all three of them, but Wesley, wan and pale, the scar across his throat livid and raw, had been mothered and spoiled while Giles watched, amused and slightly touched. That scar was still there but Wesley no longer hid it and under a variety of ointments and charms, it had faded to a silver-white line.
Wesley was ready to go back to the city he’d left with such bitterness of feeling. Whether he could reconcile with his friends, Giles didn’t know; Angel and Cordelia were still missing and he knew that Wesley was determined to find them because all his spare time had been spent researching location spells...but if even if he succeeded, there was no guarantee that he could regain a trust Giles felt he deserved to have and should never have lost.
“Because we wanted you to be,” Giles said, after a barely perceptible pause. Wesley was still inclined to be a little prickly about accepting favours; telling him that his sojourn had been designed to let him recover would have sent him across the Atlantic at once. “Willow and I might have resolved our differences, but she’s still inclined to be...difficult and she listens to you more than to me sometimes.”
“It’s because I’m not in love with her,” Wesley said with a brutal frankness. “She knows she’s got you just where she wants you.” He grinned, without the coldness he would once have shown. “One flutter of her lashes, one shy smile and Rupert loses all his willpower; isn’t that right?”
“Nonsense,” Giles said huffily, knowing it was completely accurate. “I’m not so easily manipulated.”
Wesley patted Giles’ knee gently. “It works both ways. I can force her to obey, but to get your approval, I believe she’d do just about anything.”
“You know we’re lovers now,” Giles said abruptly.
A faint flush rose in Wesley’s cheeks. “I, ah, took a walk in the woods a few nights ago. I hope you believe that I didn’t linger, but –”
Giles looked away, torn between amusement, pride and shyness. “I’m so sorry,” he said. “She – well, when it comes to that, yes, I am easily persuaded. She had this idea that it would be romantic to make love under the moon.”
“And was it?” Wesley said dryly, his composure seemingly returned.
“The earth’s hard,” Giles said. “My knees still ache; I got a beetle exploring parts of me I’d rather he hadn’t, and it rained on the way back.” A fleeting memory of Willow’s slender body, cool and fresh, straining against his, her hands gripping at his shoulders as she came, crossed his mind, and he smiled. “It was worth it, though I think I perform at my best on a bed these days.”
If he’d expected to fluster Wesley, he was disappointed. The other man simply raised an eyebrow and drawled out, “Really?” in what might have passed for a teasing tone of voice.
Giles relaxed. Perhaps this wouldn’t be as difficult as he’d feared. “Wesley, as this is your last night and Lord knows when we’ll meet up again, I was wondering – and please feel free to stalk off in outrage, attempt, unsuccessfully of course, to hit me, or simply laugh –”
“Giles, spit it out,” Wesley said kindly if bluntly. “Whatever it is, I’m sure –”
“We want you to share our bed tonight,” Giles said, feeling his hand curl into a tight fist as he waited for Wesley’s response, but striving to keep his voice casual. “By way of a thank you and a farewell.”
“Now that I wasn’t expecting,” Wesley said, running a slightly unsteady hand through his hair. “Giles, it’s- kind – of you, of you both, but I don’t think –”
“It’s not kind at all,” Giles said. “It’s also not entirely selfless of me and it’s not just for the reasons I gave.”
Wesley waited, seemingly lost for words, and Giles continued. “Think of it as Willow’s graduation.”
“I don’t understand,” Wesley said flatly.
Reaching out slowly, Giles traced Wesley’s scar, feeling the thickened skin catch at his fingers. “She wants to take this away completely. She says you don’t need it anymore.” The skin jerked as Wesley swallowed and Giles let his hand drop away. “You know she’s been doing small bits of magic; supervised, simple stuff. She’s capable of far more, and I’ve been trying to make her see that. Now she agrees.”
“But why does she want to do that?” Wesley said, his voice harsh, making him sound as he had when he first arrived with the injury still fresh.
“You don’t want it gone?” Giles asked.
“Yes – no.” Wesley made a frustrated sound and glanced away from Giles. “It’s not pretty, I know. It’s why I hid it, but everyone here – no one seemed to mind, or to care –”
“They care,” Giles said quietly.
“Yes. They do. But I need it there when I look in the mirror. Need the reminder not to be such a fool ever again.”
“Willow says you don’t.”
“Perhaps Willow can mind her own damn business!” Wesley snapped.
“I agree with her,” Giles said mildly. “You’re not a child, Wesley. You don’t need a visible reminder, and I’m fairly certain you’ll be a fool again with or without it. We all do foolish things sometimes.”
Wesley gave him a disgusted look. “Giles, that’s not remotely comforting.”
“It wasn’t meant to be. Well? Do I tell her that you don’t trust her enough to let her perform magic on you?” A low blow but he didn’t feel in the least bit repentant.
“Oh, she can try,” Wesley said, his shoulders slumping slightly. “It’s not as if I like having it...” He stared down at his hands, linked on his knee, and said with a trace of humour, “But it’s news to me that a healing spell requires the participants get quite as close as you suggest. Am I supposed to pretend I don’t know that? Or is this spell a variant on the old line about coming up to your room to see your etchings?”
Giles laughed. “It’s not necessary at all, “ he assured him, “although Willow did say it would make it easier to form a connection after we’d –”
“Yes,” Wesley said a little hastily. “That’s true of course, but it still doesn’t mean we should – Giles, you must see this is impossible! You and Willow have barely got to know each other; you can’t want to risk all that for a – well why do you want to do this?”
“It was Willow’s idea,” Giles admitted, feeling his interest stir as a hurt look passed over Wesley’s face. What was that for? he wondered. “And it’s precisely because our relationship is so new that she wants to do it.” He shrugged. “She’s a little curious, I think. Apart from Oz, and they weren’t together all that long as lovers, I’m the only man she’s slept with. I think, much though she loves me, she’s keen to –”
“Experiment? See if the grass is greener?” Wesley sighed. “Giles, that really isn’t a good idea. I don’t want a pity fuck if you’ll excuse my bluntness, and I don’t think you should indulge Willow’s whims to quite that extent. Are you sure she’s not just testing you? Perhaps she’s waiting for you to get possessive and declare that if she so much as looks at another man – or woman – you’ll black her eye for her?”
Giles chuckled at the idea. “I don’t think I would, but I see your point. No; truly, it’s not that. The fact that this is most definitely a one off has been made very clear to me.” He wasn’t entirely surprised that Wesley wasn’t leaping at the chance; he’d been rather stunned himself when Willow had suggested it, and slightly uncomfortable too... “Wesley, stupid of me,” he said. “Would you prefer if it were just Willow? When I said ‘join us’, I wasn’t implying that you and I needed to be -”
He never got the chance to finish his hurried, not entirely sincere explanation. With a goaded look and a speed that took Giles quite by surprise, Wesley turned, grabbed Giles’ shirt and held him in place as he kissed him, hard enough to hurt, long enough for Giles to have ample time to get over his shock and respond warmly.
The kiss ended then, as if Wesley was prepared for rejection, but not acceptance. Breathing hard, he broke the kiss and shifted away, releasing Giles. “No, Giles,” he said tightly, standing up. “It wouldn’t be better if it were just Willow.” His lips quirked in a bitter smile. “You never realised she wasn’t the only one with a crush on you, back in Sunnydale? Oh, I didn’t fall in love with you but I had a bad case of hero worship and there were days when I came so close to – never mind.”
Giles thought back to the short time they’d worked together and sighed. “Oh God, Wesley. You hid it well. And I was so –”
“Scathing, scornful, dismissive and downright rude?” Wesley said. “Yes. You were. None of which helped to calm my ardour.”
“I’m sorry,” Giles said. “For then and for now. It was a stupid idea and I’ll explain to Willow that it’s impossible, without going into detail, of course. Do forgive me, Wesley.”
“No, you won’t,” Wesley said. “I’ll come to your room at ten, Giles. I have to finish packing first.” He turned and walked away quickly. His final words floated back to Giles. “Tell Willow she can join us at eleven precisely, and if she’s early she’ll have to take the consequences.”
Giles watched Wesley vanish out of sight and wondered just how Willow would take the change of plans and the news that she had to leave them alone until...He pursed his lips. 10.45 should be about right...