Appearances were more then a little deceiving, Wesley thought as most of it went right past him. He was getting frustrated by just sitting here and not being able to help at all. Or say anything constructive. Just as he was getting frustrated with everyone looking at him, or so he imagined, with pity in their eyes.
"Research?" Xander offered at Giles question, as though he was in school and just gotten some good points for saying that. A few years back that would've annoyed him. Alright, it annoyed him now as well, because it was pointing out the obvious, but it didn't annoy him for the reasons it has a few years back. It was a small comfort.
"Seems like a good idea to me," I mumbled, slumping in his chair. He doubted there were some ancient audio books around so he could do something other then just sitting here. The silence, which fell after his words, as normal as they may have been at any other time, was almost painful.
"Yeah, uh, research," Buffy piped up, getting interrupted by both Willow and Xander and Wesley heard their footsteps getting away from the table in a hurry. No doubt hunting down book so they'd not have to stay with him and have no idea what to say.
"Yes, research," Wesley uttered, drumming his fingers on the table, looking and feeling rather sullen.
Giles stood there for a moment, watching Wesley and trying to decide on the best course of action. What he was about to ask might well be the most idiotic thing to ever come out of his mouth, but . . . it was the only thing he could think of for Wesley to do . . . the only thing that didn't require him to see. Beyond that, Wesley was an adult, not a child to be coddled. He wanted to his over with and Giles was guessing that feeling as if he were doing something was the most important thing at the moment.
Finally deciding to take the chance, Giles went and sat next to his lover, making sure to be a bit noisy about it.
"There are several phone calls to be made, love. Ethan, of course, but also my father, who might have run into something like this before. I can get you a tape recorder to take notes and you can make the calls in the office, if you want to make them."
Even drumming his fingers impatiently on the table wasn't giving him the distraction that he needed right now. Now that Wesley had thought it would, but it had been worth a try. Reciting texts and translating them from one language into another didn't seem to help either. In fact, it only frustrated him *more*, because he had the urge to look them up to see if he was right. He couldn't 'look things up', let alone 'see'.
Heaving a deep sigh, thinking the others were busy researching, he slumped in his chair. Fingers automatically kept drumming the table until he heard someone approaching. As quickly as he could when he recognized it was Giles, he sat up straighter and tried to look less...depressed.
"Oh," he said, turning his face toward the direction of the voice. He thought about that, and how someone else was going to have to dial for him - again, getting frustrating beyond annoying -, but figured it was *something* to make him feel useful. "I'm not calling Ethan though," he announced. If there was one thing he couldn't deal with right now, it was that...Wizard.
"All right," Giles said. It wasn't anything less than he'd expected, but it was just a bit disappointing. Ethan was, by far, the best chance of someone who would know about this kind of magic, between he and my father, anyway. Still, I could call him later if Wesley was unwilling too.
"I'll get you settled on the phone and then go back to the research. Willow's found a few promising leads, but there's simply so much to sift through. She's fairly certain that, once Tara returns, we'll have to examine you to find the spell and counter it."
Now that he was blind, Wesley found that he was more in tune with the sounds around him. Of course there was the fact that he knew Giles and the various intonations intimately by now. And it was this one he hated the most. Disappointment. He wrecked his brain to figure out what he had done this time to merit that tone.
Ah. But of course. Ethan again. It *always* came down to Ethan. What did his lover expect? For him to sit there and listen to that bastard laugh and mock what was happening to him now, and no doubt gleefully at that. It wasn't something he needed right now, but he doubted Giles would ever really understand. The man was a tad bias when it came to that wizard.
"That's fine," he sighed instead, not up to arguing about this again. It was like beating a dead horse anyway. He got up and tried to recall where the phone was. Which was odd, considering he used the damn thing several times. "Wait, what? Examine me? Oh...you-you mean...right. Magical." Good god, for a moment there the mere word 'examine' made him growl.
"Yes, of course," Giles answered, standing to guide Wesley to the office. "It shouldn't be too bad, but . . . if this spell does the same thing as the one we encountered in the doll it might be a bit . . . uncomfortable." Giles sighed, guiding Wesley to the chair in the office. "We'll do our bests to make it quick and easy on you, love."
Once Wesley was seated, Giles pushed the phone over toward him, bumping his hand with it. "I'll dial, if you like."
Uncomfortable? Wesley would've laughed about that if he didn't think that would offend Giles. Or get him a quick trip to the mad house. Either way, he managed to tamper down on it. He already was uncomfortable; he doubted very much it could get any worse. Or even worse then he had felt in his life. It probably was going to be easy compared to that.
Sighing, he let Giles lead him, again, this time to the office no doubt. It was the realization that this wasn't easy for his lover either which made him bite down on yet another sarcastic remark. Of course Giles was going to have to dial for him. Unless he wanted Wesley to punch the numbers and have him end up in some herbal shop in China.
"If you would, please," he said instead, moving his hand over the one Giles had on the phone. Christ, what he wanted right now was to feel his partner's arms around me. Be certain it would be alright. Craving that reassurance but knowing he couldn't ask. What he'd loved to do right now was just go home and hide in bed with Giles.
After dialing the number, Giles leaned in and kissed Wesley's temple. "Call me if you need anything," he said soft, brushing his hand along Wesley's arm. He wanted to say more, to do something, but he'd been saying the same thing all day and research was the only thing that might actually help the situation.
Sighing, Giles pressed another kiss to Wesley's temple and then turned to go. He paused at the door, glancing back toward his partner and then finally forced himself to move. Shutting the door behind himself, he went to the table and sat down with Willow and Buffy to see if they couldn't narrow things down further.
Wesley’s eyes fluttered closed when he felt his partners lips brush his temple. It may be a small thing, insignificant to most others, but to Wesley it meant comfort. He had to stop himself from reaching out and just holding onto Giles until the darkness would just go away.
“I will,” Wesley replied quietly, his voice barely a whisper. He clutched the receiver in his hand and felt suddenly very alone when Giles touch left his body. It wasn’t until he heard his lovers footsteps leaving the room that he thought about the fact that it might actually work better if he put the receiver up to his ear.
Giles found it hard to focus on the books. His eyes were clear, but his mind was a complete muddle and he had no idea what he'd just read. Sighing, he removed his glasses and tossed them onto the book, rubbing his eyes as if that would make it easier though he knew it wouldn't.
He hated seeing Wesley like this, hated seeing him look so small and hurt. Wesley tended to crunch in on himself now, and Giles wanted nothing more than to pull Wesley into his arms, into their bed. They could wrap around one another and pretend everything was all right until the others found something useful. But he knew that wasn't true. He couldn't just lie around. He had to do something.
He put his glasses back on and tried to focus on the words before him. Buffy's hand settle over his and Giles looked up. The expression on her face, the worry shining out of her eyes, let Giles know he looked just as weary and ragged as he felt.
"We'll fix this," she said with utter confidence. "We've tackled everything else and we'll fix this."
There was no room for doubt in her voice, or on her face. She nodded and he nodded in return, his resolve returning. Then they both went back to their books and Giles found it actually possible to read and comprehend the words before him.
“Nothing?” Mister Giles asked, this time with some anger in his voice.
“Yes,” Wesley sighed. He’d told the man about five times before that he wasn’t able to see a thing. He understood that it was hard to comprehend, though perhaps not for a Watcher, but the only thing it was doing, was putting his face into the facts that he was blind. Locked up in the dark he feared so much. “Not a thing.”
Mister Giles sighed and Wesley heard him say something, probably to Mrs., Giles who had come to see what was going on when she’d heard her husbands agitated voice. “And you say it was a doll who started al this?”
“As far as we can tell, yes,” Wesley nodded. At least, that’s what he remembered had come from the spell. As it was, he was having a bit of trouble remembering the details. Which only made him slump down even more. What good was he going to be if he couldn’t even get this right?
“Alright,” Mister Giles said and Wesley could practically see him nodding in his mind. At least he could still vision what his…father in law looked like. “I’ll put my team on this as well and we’ll see what we can find out. I’ll call you and Rupert later today. Don’t worry, Wesley. We’ll fix this.” Again there was mumbling and Wesley waited patiently. “Mona sends her love to you boys. She’ll help us out as well. Just… stay calm and I’ll call you.”
Wesley just nodded numbly, said his goodbyes and then hung up the phone. Or rather he tried to. It was frustrating that he had to follow the cord to actually figure out where to put the damn thing. Once that was done, he drummed his fingers on the desk, and felt helpless again. And not to mention useless. It wasn’t as though he could actually call anyone else, and he felt rather silly to call out to Giles to come and get him.
Giles looked up from his book and rubbed at his neck. He was getting somewhere, he knew it. From what he remembered of the spell they'd glimpsed in the doll--Willow and Tara had only found traces of it when they'd examined the thing--he'd finally found something similar.
"We're ready for Wesley, whenever he's ready," Tara said, giving Giles an encouraging smile.
"Oh? I'll let him know." Standing with a sigh, Giles headed toward his office and slipped inside. Wesley seemed to be done with the phone. The expression on his face twisted Giles' heart. "Wesley? The girls are ready to examine you, if you're ready."
Getting more frustrated by the second, Wesley debated getting up himself and just feeling his way toward the door. He could follow the voices that sometimes floated through there. They were soft, hushed voices, as though they were discussing something that they didn’t want someone else to hear. Or maybe the door was closed? He had no idea.
Sighing, he slumped in his chair and ran a hand over his face. He nearly jumped out of his skin when Giles voice came, even though it was only soft. “What? Oh, right. I’m ready.” Not as though he had anything *else* to do, he thought ruefully before he remembered what he was supposed to be ready for.
Magic. They were going to do spell on him. Again. More spells. He wasn’t very lucky with spells done to him was he? A cold fear gripped the pit of his stomach but he quickly pushed it away. If he showed fear now, that would only serve to make Tara and Willow insecure, and Giles worries. He trusted them, he just didn’t trust the magic.
“Best get this over with then hmm?” he said, trying to sound cheerful. Getting up from the chair, he felt around until his hand bumped into the table and then started to make his way over to the voice and the door. Where he assumed he’d find Giles. He wondered if the man would worry to much if he just wrapped his arms around his lover and held on for a few seconds. Probably, best leave off then.
Giles watched Wesley make his way toward him and wanted nothing more than to go and help him. He wasn't sure how angry Wesley would get, however, and so he waited at the door. Of course, once Wesley got to him, Giles couldn't resist laying his hand on Wesley's arm to guide him. He leaned in close, kissing Wesley's temple.
"We'll make this right, love," he said softly enough that only Wesley would hear him. "I promise you. And I'm going to be there throughout the spell. Nothing's going to happen." This time, Giles silently added to himself.
"Research?" Xander offered at Giles question, as though he was in school and just gotten some good points for saying that. A few years back that would've annoyed him. Alright, it annoyed him now as well, because it was pointing out the obvious, but it didn't annoy him for the reasons it has a few years back. It was a small comfort.
"Seems like a good idea to me," I mumbled, slumping in his chair. He doubted there were some ancient audio books around so he could do something other then just sitting here. The silence, which fell after his words, as normal as they may have been at any other time, was almost painful.
"Yeah, uh, research," Buffy piped up, getting interrupted by both Willow and Xander and Wesley heard their footsteps getting away from the table in a hurry. No doubt hunting down book so they'd not have to stay with him and have no idea what to say.
"Yes, research," Wesley uttered, drumming his fingers on the table, looking and feeling rather sullen.
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Finally deciding to take the chance, Giles went and sat next to his lover, making sure to be a bit noisy about it.
"There are several phone calls to be made, love. Ethan, of course, but also my father, who might have run into something like this before. I can get you a tape recorder to take notes and you can make the calls in the office, if you want to make them."
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Heaving a deep sigh, thinking the others were busy researching, he slumped in his chair. Fingers automatically kept drumming the table until he heard someone approaching. As quickly as he could when he recognized it was Giles, he sat up straighter and tried to look less...depressed.
"Oh," he said, turning his face toward the direction of the voice. He thought about that, and how someone else was going to have to dial for him - again, getting frustrating beyond annoying -, but figured it was *something* to make him feel useful. "I'm not calling Ethan though," he announced. If there was one thing he couldn't deal with right now, it was that...Wizard.
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"I'll get you settled on the phone and then go back to the research. Willow's found a few promising leads, but there's simply so much to sift through. She's fairly certain that, once Tara returns, we'll have to examine you to find the spell and counter it."
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Ah. But of course. Ethan again. It *always* came down to Ethan. What did his lover expect? For him to sit there and listen to that bastard laugh and mock what was happening to him now, and no doubt gleefully at that. It wasn't something he needed right now, but he doubted Giles would ever really understand. The man was a tad bias when it came to that wizard.
"That's fine," he sighed instead, not up to arguing about this again. It was like beating a dead horse anyway. He got up and tried to recall where the phone was. Which was odd, considering he used the damn thing several times. "Wait, what? Examine me? Oh...you-you mean...right. Magical." Good god, for a moment there the mere word 'examine' made him growl.
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Once Wesley was seated, Giles pushed the phone over toward him, bumping his hand with it. "I'll dial, if you like."
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Sighing, he let Giles lead him, again, this time to the office no doubt. It was the realization that this wasn't easy for his lover either which made him bite down on yet another sarcastic remark. Of course Giles was going to have to dial for him. Unless he wanted Wesley to punch the numbers and have him end up in some herbal shop in China.
"If you would, please," he said instead, moving his hand over the one Giles had on the phone. Christ, what he wanted right now was to feel his partner's arms around me. Be certain it would be alright. Craving that reassurance but knowing he couldn't ask. What he'd loved to do right now was just go home and hide in bed with Giles.
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Sighing, Giles pressed another kiss to Wesley's temple and then turned to go. He paused at the door, glancing back toward his partner and then finally forced himself to move. Shutting the door behind himself, he went to the table and sat down with Willow and Buffy to see if they couldn't narrow things down further.
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“I will,” Wesley replied quietly, his voice barely a whisper. He clutched the receiver in his hand and felt suddenly very alone when Giles touch left his body. It wasn’t until he heard his lovers footsteps leaving the room that he thought about the fact that it might actually work better if he put the receiver up to his ear.
“Hello?” a familiar voice came on the other side.
“Ah, Mister Gil- Edward. It’s-it’s Wesley…”
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He hated seeing Wesley like this, hated seeing him look so small and hurt. Wesley tended to crunch in on himself now, and Giles wanted nothing more than to pull Wesley into his arms, into their bed. They could wrap around one another and pretend everything was all right until the others found something useful. But he knew that wasn't true. He couldn't just lie around. He had to do something.
He put his glasses back on and tried to focus on the words before him. Buffy's hand settle over his and Giles looked up. The expression on her face, the worry shining out of her eyes, let Giles know he looked just as weary and ragged as he felt.
"We'll fix this," she said with utter confidence. "We've tackled everything else and we'll fix this."
There was no room for doubt in her voice, or on her face. She nodded and he nodded in return, his resolve returning. Then they both went back to their books and Giles found it actually possible to read and comprehend the words before him.
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“Yes,” Wesley sighed. He’d told the man about five times before that he wasn’t able to see a thing. He understood that it was hard to comprehend, though perhaps not for a Watcher, but the only thing it was doing, was putting his face into the facts that he was blind. Locked up in the dark he feared so much. “Not a thing.”
Mister Giles sighed and Wesley heard him say something, probably to Mrs., Giles who had come to see what was going on when she’d heard her husbands agitated voice. “And you say it was a doll who started al this?”
“As far as we can tell, yes,” Wesley nodded. At least, that’s what he remembered had come from the spell. As it was, he was having a bit of trouble remembering the details. Which only made him slump down even more. What good was he going to be if he couldn’t even get this right?
“Alright,” Mister Giles said and Wesley could practically see him nodding in his mind. At least he could still vision what his…father in law looked like. “I’ll put my team on this as well and we’ll see what we can find out. I’ll call you and Rupert later today. Don’t worry, Wesley. We’ll fix this.” Again there was mumbling and Wesley waited patiently. “Mona sends her love to you boys. She’ll help us out as well. Just… stay calm and I’ll call you.”
Wesley just nodded numbly, said his goodbyes and then hung up the phone. Or rather he tried to. It was frustrating that he had to follow the cord to actually figure out where to put the damn thing. Once that was done, he drummed his fingers on the desk, and felt helpless again. And not to mention useless. It wasn’t as though he could actually call anyone else, and he felt rather silly to call out to Giles to come and get him.
“Splendid,” he muttered under his breath.
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"We're ready for Wesley, whenever he's ready," Tara said, giving Giles an encouraging smile.
"Oh? I'll let him know." Standing with a sigh, Giles headed toward his office and slipped inside. Wesley seemed to be done with the phone. The expression on his face twisted Giles' heart. "Wesley? The girls are ready to examine you, if you're ready."
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Sighing, he slumped in his chair and ran a hand over his face. He nearly jumped out of his skin when Giles voice came, even though it was only soft. “What? Oh, right. I’m ready.” Not as though he had anything *else* to do, he thought ruefully before he remembered what he was supposed to be ready for.
Magic. They were going to do spell on him. Again. More spells. He wasn’t very lucky with spells done to him was he? A cold fear gripped the pit of his stomach but he quickly pushed it away. If he showed fear now, that would only serve to make Tara and Willow insecure, and Giles worries. He trusted them, he just didn’t trust the magic.
“Best get this over with then hmm?” he said, trying to sound cheerful. Getting up from the chair, he felt around until his hand bumped into the table and then started to make his way over to the voice and the door. Where he assumed he’d find Giles. He wondered if the man would worry to much if he just wrapped his arms around his lover and held on for a few seconds. Probably, best leave off then.
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"We'll make this right, love," he said softly enough that only Wesley would hear him. "I promise you. And I'm going to be there throughout the spell. Nothing's going to happen." This time, Giles silently added to himself.
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