Fic: "This is How it Goes"
Getting in another fic under the wire.
Title This is How it Goes
Author lorelei_frolick
Rating G
Word Count 570
Prompt 013, "This is How it Goes"
Characters/Pairing (if any) Giles/Faith
Author's Note This story was inspired by a SPOILER for Faith's upcoming arc in the Season 8 comics. However, my story is more than likely nothing like what the actual one will be, and is otherwise spoiler-free.
Author's Note 2 This is the third installment of a story I started with "Undercover" in challenge #12 and continued with "Crazy for Loving You" for this challenge. However, chronologically this should come second. I'm not really planning this, and I thought there were some gaps in the character and relationship development that could stand to be filled in, hence the installments not being in chronological order.
Faith thought she was through with the etiquette lessons, speech lessons and dress fittings that had filled her day, but then Giles marched in and told her she had dance lessons in fifteen minutes.
"But I already know how to dance," she said as she followed Giles outside to his car.
"Not with actual dance steps," he replied bruskly.
"Do you know how to dance?"
"That's irrelevant, as I won't be dancing."
"Then why do I gotta?" Giles gave Faith a look and she corrected herself, "Why do I have to?"
"You'll be asked to. I won't. Now come on or you'll be late."
Faith's dance lesson started with the waltz. The instructor told her just to watch him at first.
"Pay attention. This is how it goes."
She did pay attention, as she had to all her instructors throughout the day. As tedious as her upper-crust make-over was, Faith was doing her best.
Part of her reason for trying was that Giles had convinced her that she had it in her to change. Another part of the reason had to do with something else he said that same night he had followed her to the club.
As they had been walking home, Faith noticed he had a far-away look.
"Reminiscing 'bout the good ol' days?" she had asked.
Giles almost-laughed. "When I was first assigned as Buffy's Watcher I had to chase her down in a club too. She gave me a very hard time," he said, a note of exasperation still in his voice.
That was when it occurred to Faith that maybe it was possible for her to outdo Buffy, to be the good-Slayer, at least in Giles' eyes, if she tried.
When Giles came back to the dance studio to pick her up the instructor told him that Faith was the best student he had ever had, and Faith felt something swell inside her; it was a feeling that reminded her of the Mayor.
Yeah, this is how it goes. Changing herself for approval and praise; hadn't she grown past that? There was something about the way Giles looked at her -- like he was impressed but not surprised, and just a little bit proud -- that made her not care.
"Let's do something fun," Faith said as Giles sat down in the driver's seat of his car.
"You're free to spend the evening as you wish now."
"I said, let's do something fun. As in 'us.' Plural."
"What?"
"Don't think I haven't noticed your life is even more scheduled than mine. You really need to loosen up, Giles."
"I'm extremely busy. There are other priorities --"
"And they're making you more uptight than an old-school Watcher."
Giles blinked, visibly taken aback by Faith's words.
She continued, "You've always been cooler than that, Giles. C'mon."
Against his better judgment Giles found himself agreeing to go out with Faith, and he couldn't help but smile as he did.
This had happened before: just when he was starting to feel the weight of his years, someone came along who made him feel like he wasn't so far gone after all, that there was more to him than just being the Watcher. Jenny, Olivia; they followed a pattern, but Giles didn't recognize the steps. Not with Faith. He didn't realize that this is how it goes.