(Untitled)

[stillbecoming]

Exciting things about Milliways, #342: summer is ending in Sunnydale, but it's just starting here. Like a buy one get one free (and inexplicably Scottish) deal.

Buffy settles down at the bar with a glass of apple juice and an early August tan, and proceeds to people-watch. And...alien-watch. And robot-watch. And sheep-watch.

Why is there always a

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[morethanwatcher]

And here's a familiar face for you--if he looks a liiittle too young, say... from the first few months she knew him? Well, maybe she won't notice.

"...Buffy?"

[stillbecoming]

That's a familiar sound. "Giles!" says Buffy, by way of greeting.

...Giles is here?

"Giles!" says Buffy again, this time with a look of guilty alarm. "I was just, um -- training. This is a training smoothie. Did you cut your hair?"

[morethanwatcher]

. . .

"Buffy, don't try to lie unprepared like that. You're incredibly transparent." He sighs and takes his glasses off to clean them. But he's smiling. "...Ah... no? Why would you ask that?"

[stillbecoming]

Buffy deflates.

...Not literally.

"I don't know," she says, moving swiftly away from the subject of her ability to lie. (And the subject of how she isn't training.) "Something about it looks different. New conditioner?"

[morethanwatcher]

Yeah, the literality is a necessary note in their lives.

Honestly, Giles is still busy enough getting used to the Bar that training isn't the first thing on his mind. He sighs a little impatiently. "...Buffy, I barely even know what you mean when you talk about 'conditioner.' I haven't done anything to my hair since you saw me earlier."

Good thing Angel warned him about the timeline thing, no?

[stillbecoming]

Buffy very nicely doesn't say anything about how Giles's lack of conditioner familiarity kind of shows a little around the ends.

"So what're you doing here?" She frowns. "And why didn't you ever tell me there was a magical bar at the end of the universe that's also kind of Scotland?"

Things Buffy sometimes forgets about: homework, training, the fact that in French you're supposed to conjugate verbs, the fact that not everybody here is from the same point in time.

[morethanwatcher]

I'm sure Giles appreciates the lack of commenting on his personal appearance. If nothing else, it spares him a lot of painfully boring discussions.

"...Before I answer that question, Buffy, what year is it for you?"

See, Giles is smart, and having been told that there are timeline issues, is quick enough to realize that any mention of Scotland came after his time.

[stillbecoming]

Buffy pauses.

Blinks.

"2000?" And then she blinks again, and stares at him. "I knew it! You do look different. What year is it for you?"

Technically Scotland comes after her time, too. But somebody told her the lake out back is (kind of) Scotland.

[morethanwatcher]

"...1996."

Beat.

"You thought being a cheerleader would be... safe sometime last week." He sounds mildly reproving.

[stillbecoming]

"So that was -- my first year in Sunnydale, right?" Buffy is trying to count on her fingers and talk at the same time. It may end badly. "Oh my god, you're, like -- proto-Giles! And the cheerleading was completely safe, it was the crazy woman with the cauldron who was a problem."

[morethanwatcher]

"... Proto-Giles?" he murmurs, shaking his head. What will he do with this girl.

"Yes, that year, Buffy." Giles just sighs. "Nonetheless, I think it proved my point adequately." He smiles at her a little. "It is good to see you. Now what's this about Scotland?"

[stillbecoming]

Proto-Giles is more tweed-intensive than present-Giles. Buffy considers mentioning this, but decides that she might endanger the space-time continuum.

"Apparently out back is Scotland." She jerks a thumb toward the lake windows. "Which I completely don't get. The bar and restaurant part is kind of bizarre on its own, but why does the end of the universe have a Scottish lake outside the door?"

[morethanwatcher]

If he knew she made that decision, he would be proud he managed to teach her a little sense, at least.

Giles frowns, and then shrugs a little. "Well, Scotland is a beautiful place," he says with a faint smile. "Very green--and the lochs are quite scenic, if occasionally hard to navigate with a motorcar."

[stillbecoming]

Tiny bit.

Buffy frowns, too. "But it's the end of the universe," she points out. "Wouldn't something like Cleveland make more sense?"

[morethanwatcher]

For a moment Giles blinks, and then makes a strange sort of sound that is clearly a strangled laugh. "Buffy..."

And off come the glasses for cleaning as he chuckles. "There are times your wit astonishes me. You may have a point. However," he says with a smile, "if the aim is to appear beautiful, there are remote locations in Scotland which would serve far better than Cleveland, no?"

[stillbecoming]

Buffy watches him curiously. He may be younger, tweedier, and more disturbingly reminiscent of Wesley (well, ish), but he still cleans his glasses. It's reassuring. The cleaning of glasses is a timeless action.

"Well, true. Like the ultimate tourist trap?"