Life on a Hellmouth (83/90)
Life on a Hellmouth - Chapter Eighty-Three
The next morning Buffy sighed as she woke slowly. Reaching out to cuddle with her husband, her eyes opened to find only cool sheets under her touch.
“Well, that’s a disappointment.” She muttered softly.
She climbed out of bed and glanced down at her stomach as she padded into the bathroom. “What did you do, grow overnight?” She sighed heavily. “Your father is definitely going to have to take me shopping today.”
Taking care of her business quickly, she brushed her teeth and slipped on a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt. She looked at herself in the mirror and groaned.
“Not the most glamorous choice of outfits. But…can’t really be picky right now.” She smiled when she felt a gentle kick. “Let’s go find your daddy.”
* * *
Giles shook his head in exasperation as he held the phone in his left hand while turning the talisman over in his right. “No, I will not be put on hold yet again. Tell him it’s Rupert Giles and that I need to…” He pulled the phone from his ear and stared at it as the hold music began playing. “Blast it!”
Buffy walked into the room, a small smile playing on her lips. “Everything okay?”
“No. I’ve just been put on hold for the third time.” He looked up and his angry features softened. “Good morning.”
“Hi.” She made her way to him, leaning down to drop a kiss on his lips before hopping onto the table. “Who are you trying to call?”
He leaned forward, kissing her stomach before looking up at her. “Tom Jarvis. He’s the Council’s expert in Ancient Phoenician.” He glanced down at the item in his hand. “I need to know if this will be acceptable for Oz.”
“Oh.” She reached down and plucked the talisman out of his hand, studying it carefully. “And you’re just gonna ask your Council guy if this’ll help cure werewolfism?”
“Well, no. I was actually going to ask for a translation of the markings. I should be able to tell from an accurate translation if it’s suitable.”
“Okay.” She dropped the charm back into his hand and held her hand out. “Give me the phone.”
When he complied with her request, she hit the ‘end’ button, much to Giles’ dismay.
“Buffy! I’ve been waiting for nearly an hour!”
Buffy merely offered him a smile and hit the redial button. She gave him a wink as she listened to the call being connected.
“Who am I asking for?”
“Tom Jarvis.”
She nodded and waited as the phone began to ring. A rich, cultivated English accent spoke to her.
“How may I direct your call?”
Buffy raised an eyebrow. “What? No, ‘Hi, Council Headquarters’ or anything?”
The voice coughed lightly. “How may I help you?”
She grinned, swinging her legs as she picked up a pen and twirled it in her fingers. “May I speak with Mr. Tom Jarvis please?”
There was a slight hesitation on the line.
“May I ask who’s calling?”
“Buffy Giles.” She responded quickly. “Buffy Summers Giles. I need to speak with Mr. Jarvis urgently about a matter that has arisen on the Hellmouth in Sunnydale.”
Giles chuckled in amusement.
The unidentified man on the line sputtered softly. “Yes, of course. Please hold.”
As she listened to the hold music, she met her husband’s eyes. “I’m on hold. I think they need to update their music.”
When Giles began to respond, Buffy held up her hand in a gentle request for him to be quiet.
A man picked up the line, his accent different than her husband’s. Still English, but thicker. “Miss Summers.”
“Actually, it’s Giles now. Has been for over three months, you’d think you would’ve gotten the memo on that by now.” She said brightly, holding no malice in her tone.
“Yes, I’m terribly sorry about that. Um, what can I do for you Mrs. Giles?”
“Actually, nothing. My husband is needing your assistance. Apparently, he kept getting put on hold.”
“Oh. I’ll, uh…I’ll speak to my secretary about that. I apologize for any inconvenience.”
Buffy smiled at the nervous tone in the man’s voice. “It’s okay. But, we do have an issue on the Hellmouth that Giles needs to discuss with you. Hold on.”
She covered the mouthpiece with her hand and held the phone out towards Giles. “I wish we had some hold music for him to listen to.”
Giles laughed softly, taking the phone from her hand and whispering ‘thank you’ before lifting the receiver to his ear.
“Mr. Jarvis, you seem to be a difficult man to get hold of.”
“Ah, yes. I do apologize, Mr. Giles. I wasn’t told that it was you on the line for me.”
Giles raised an eyebrow. “Oh? Interesting.”
“I, uh…I shall endeavour to get to the bottom of that issue. For the time being, what may I help you with?”
As Giles began his explanation of what he needed, Buffy slid off the table and gently ruffled his hair. He looked up at her, reaching his free hand out to caress her swollen abdomen. He grinned brightly when he felt his child move under his touch.
His eyes suddenly darted to the talisman resting on the table. “I can fax an image to you right away. It’s quite imperative that I receive an accurate translation as soon as possible.”
Buffy chuckled softly, realizing that ‘Husband Giles’ was being temporarily replaced with ‘Research Giles’. She quietly walked out of the room and headed to the kitchen.
It was nearly ten in the morning and she was hungry. She was also pretty sure that Giles had been too busy with his research to have actually eaten anything yet.
* * *
Half an hour later, Giles walked into the kitchen. Buffy looked up from a bowl of cereal and smiled.
“How’d it go?”
He sat down at the table and ran his hand through his hair. “He seems rather excited about it. He’s promised to have the translation completed within a few hours.”
Hearing the tea kettle begin to whistle, he turned and looked at the stove. Buffy stood and quickly made her way through the kitchen, lifting the kettle from the eye.
“Good timing, Giles.” She poured the water into the teapot, allowing the leaves to steep as she opened the oven door. “I was going to bring this in to you when your tea was ready.”
Giles narrowed his eyes as she slipped on an oven mitt and pulled a plate full of steaming food out of the oven. “What did you do?”
“Made you breakfast…or early lunch…or, you could call it brunch.” She smiled as she placed the plate on the table in front of him. “Careful with the plate, it’s hot.”
He looked down at the plate, heaped with diced potatoes that had been perfectly browned, a couple of sausages, baked beans, and some pan-fried mushrooms. He smiled brightly as she placed the teapot in front of him and handed him a fork.
“I was going to do baked beans on toast, but I didn’t know how long you’d be. I was afraid the toast would get soggy.”
“So, instead…you decided to cook a full English breakfast? A slightly Americanized version, but still…”
A flicker of worry shone in her eyes. “Is it okay? I mean, I’m not really good with the whole cooking thing…especially cooking English things…but…”
He smiled softly, placing his hand over hers. “It’s wonderful, Buffy. Thank you.” He glanced back down at the plate and chuckled.
“What?”
“I think you might have to help me finish it though.”
She laughed softly as she poured him a cup of tea. She took a sip before handing it to him. “So, how long is a few hours?”
“Hm?” He took a sip and then placed the cup on the table.
“Well, you said it would take him a few hours to get the translation back to you. How long is a few?”
“Oh.” He cut a piece of sausage and popped it into his mouth, chewing quickly as he cut another piece and held the fork to Buffy’s lips. “Three or four, I suppose. Why?”
She chewed the morsel carefully and swallowed. “I need clothes. I think my pregnancy progressed another five weeks last night.”
He grinned and swallowed a mushroom.
* * *
The phone was ringing as he struggled through the front door, his arms laden with bags of clothes. Buffy rushed past him, dropping her bags onto the floor as she grabbed the phone.
“Hello?”
“Ah, Mrs. Giles?”
“Yep, that’s me.” She smiled as Giles carefully placed the bags on the coffee table and sat down.
“This is Tom Jarvis. I was wondering if Mr. Giles would be available?”
She chuckled softly. “He is, but he’d probably prefer to be called Rupert. Hold on a sec, I’ll get him for you.”
She walked over to the couch and plopped down beside of Giles. “Tom Jarvis for you.”
“Oh. Thank you.” He took the phone quickly and held it to his ear. “Tom? This is Rupert.”
“Hello. I, uh…I’ve finished the translation for you. Interesting little talisman you have there. Where did you come across it?”
“Buffy found it on one of her patrols.” His eyes narrowed slightly. “Interesting, how?”
“Well, you were correct in that the markings are ancient Phoenician. However…this talisman is connected to a Kitsune…which, as you know, is Japanese.”
“Kitsune? Are you sure?” Giles leaned forward, a small smile on his lips.
Buffy glanced at him, smiling as she saw the excitement in his eyes.
“I’m quite positive, Rupert. Specifically, this deals with a Nogitsune. I’ll fax the complete translation to you immediately. I hope this helps your issue on the Hellmouth. If you require any further assistance, please do not hesitate to ring.”
“Thank you, Tom. Thank you very much. I’m positive that this will be of great use to us.”
Buffy began sorting her purchases as Giles finished the phone call. She wasn’t sure what a Kitsune was, but, judging by the gleam in Giles’ eye, he did. When he ended the call and dropped the phone onto the lamp table, she looked at him.
“Good news?”
“I do believe so.” He grinned brightly and turned to meet her eyes. “The talisman is for a Kitsune.”
“A…who?”
“Kitsune. It’s a Japanese fox spirit. Specifically, this talisman is for a classification of Kitsune called the Nogitsune.”
“Uh-huh.” Buffy nodded slowly, knowing that he’d eventually explain. “And the nogit-whattie is a ghost fox?”
Giles shook his head quickly. “No, not a ghost. That is a common misconception. In this instance ‘spirit’ refers to the supernatural abilities of a fox with eternal life.”
Buffy narrowed her eyes in confusion. “Like…a vampire fox?”
“No. Not like a vampire fox in the least. The Kitsune possess superior intelligence and magical powers. It’s been rumoured that they can possess humans, typically women. They’ve also been known to take on human form after completing a specific ritual.”
“Okay, so this fox is like a super fox…super smart, super magicky…are they evil?”
“For the most part, no. The classification of Myobu are benevolent, simply content to just exist.”
Buffy raised an eyebrow as he paused. “And the noggy one?”
“Nogitsune.” He corrected gently. “The Nogitsune are the wilder foxes. Sometimes malicious, but not necessarily always so. They’re more into mischief. The tricksters of the spirit world, if you will.”
“Bottom line…this is good for Oz, yeah?”
Giles grinned brightly. “I think it’s very good for Oz. Tom is faxing the complete translation now. As soon as I go over it, with the research that Oz provided me, I’ll call him.”
“Cool.” She thought for a moment. “So, what’s gonna happen?”
At his puzzled expression, she continued. “I mean, does he just wear this talisman and Wolf Oz is gone? Or - ”
“Not exactly. But, then again, I’m not sure. There’s still a fair bit of research to be done. But, from what Oz and I discovered last night…there are spells, charms…a few herbs. And I would imagine a great deal of meditation. I think it will be a mixture of many things and not just one magic medallion.”
“Oh, well if you need help, I’ll be glad to do what I can.”
He chuckled softly and she nudged his shoulder with hers. “I do know how to research, you know. I just choose not to. ‘Cause, you know…you’re like the King of Research.”
He snorted in amusement and stood up. “I’ll just go check this fax. I trust you’re alright to unpack these bags?”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” She waved her hand at him, a smile showing in her eyes. “You go do the research thing, I’ll do the putting away clothes thing.”
She laughed softly as he grinned, turned and rushed down the hall towards the library.