[Open] A Serenade for the Semi-sentient

[steedtoherpeel]

Giles frankly wasn't certain that there was any real mind behind the bookshelf, or method to its madness. He wasn't the sort of man that usually talked to inanimate objects. But this -- this was different. He had felt that he'd formed some kind of rapport with it, and he certainly wasn't going to do something to jeopardise that

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[fatalpride]

The past couple of days had been eventful to say the least, with Thalia's appearance, but as far as Annabeth was concerned, there was no time that was too inconvenient to continue learning. And she had even begun to work seriously at reading English, something she had never really bothered with before back home.

There were a few heavy archaic-looking tomes in her hands, ready to be returned to the bookshelf and exchanged to be read in her hut at night, but the sound of music and a man's voice stopped her.

"...Are you singing to it?"

[steedtoherpeel]

He tilted his head back to the woman and smiled warmly. "I'm afraid so," he admitted, surprisingly ashamed at being caught. "I find I have much more luck if I keep a friendship of sorts with it. I have very peculiar reading habits, and it indulges me."

He tilted his head, trying to catch the titles on the spines of her tomes.

[fatalpride]

"Do you think it can hear you? I knew it was magical, but not all magical objects have personalities." Celestial bronze, for example. Her (now ordinary) magic cap of invisibility. Annabeth noticed what he was trying to do and held up the books higher for him to see more easily, but two out of the three were in Greek anyways, so she wasn't sure how much good that would do. The last was a children's book of illustrated Greek myths - the content insulting in its simplicity, the language frustrating in its elusiveness.

[steedtoherpeel]

"It's got a personality, that's for certain. I can't be sure if it's sentient or wise or merely amused by me, but I have very good luck when I court it a bit." He read the book titles to himself and glanced up at her. Modern or ancient, Greek was no problem for him.

"I'm fond of the Greek Mythologies, I must admit. There's a simplicity to it. They really did understand the human condition."

[todoright]

Angel was brooding.

While it might come as a surprise to those citizens from Sunnydale who seemed to enjoy their hyperbole in massive amounts, Angel had actually been given very little to brood about for some time in LA. Of course, there were the usual reasons - his past, Buffy, Angelus lurking within, Buffy, the state of the human race, and Buffy. But other than that, he had actually been...happy. Enjoying true friendship with two people he knew he could trust with his life.

Here he was being thrown for a loop. The arrival of Spike, recognizing a past victim of his - all of that simply added up to his demeanor that was becoming more cryptic than usual. Hence the search for some reading material - perhaps some 19th century French philosophy for today. He hadn't actually tried the bookshelf yet, although he'd heard of it.

Someone was singing in the room. They were pretty good, too, and it wasn't until he really glanced at the person that Angel did a doubletake.

"Giles."

[steedtoherpeel]

Giles's head snapped up at the familiar voice, and his smile was sudden and warm. "Angel. Now this is a surprise." He dropped the guitar pick in his shirt pocket and put down the guitar. "How long have you been around?"

[todoright]

"Not long." reaching behind him to grab a book from the shelf, he was ironically greeted with Charles Baudelaire's Les Fleurs du Mal, in the original French. His gaze lingered on the title before glancing back at Giles, having read the text many times in the past. After all, he could practically take credit for Le Vampyr. "What year did you come from?" He's going down a list of priorities, although his slightly relaxing demeanor suggests that he at least has a modicum of comfort around Giles. There were past transgressions, of course - on his part. But he could appreciate the Watcher's level head to contrast Buffy's impetuousness.

He's grateful to him for taking care of her, although he's not sure if it should really be the other way around.

[steedtoherpeel]

There was a tension to Angel's stance that GIles didn't quite understand at first -- and then he did, a flicker of a smile crossing his face. Angel's face never changed -- it'd be impossible to know by either of them if they came from the same year. And Angel's years in Sunnydale had been -- well, Giles would say 'complicated' and chalk it up to British understatement.

"Two-thousand five," he said, in precise, clipped tones. "And yourself?"

[will_you_see]

Alcuin walked into the rec room and lingered in the doorway for a moment before approaching and saying quietly, "Rupert, you're not... busy, are you?" His expression was a touch sad, perhaps, a touch drained. As if he had just endured something unpleasant.

[steedtoherpeel]

"When it comes to you, agapito, you know that I am never busy." He patted one of the shelves. "I know she won't mind a little break."

He wasn't blind to Alcuin's mood, and he set his guitar carefully in the case and closed it. "Let me make you some tea."

[will_you_see]

Alcuin offered him a small smile in response to that. "That would be lovely." And then he closed the short distance between them and kissed Giles, sweet and lingering, before pulling away.

[steedtoherpeel]

He cupped Alcuin's face in both hands as the kiss lingered. "I trust if there's something bothering you, you know you can tell me." He moved to put a pot of water on the heat.

[chose]

After have her life flipped upside down, shaken, and then stirred, Buffy had begun to find comfort in the more familiar things the island had to offer. Xander's company, for instance, even if it meant dancing around two very large, ex-vampire-shaped elephants. The compound was also familiar, as was its most frequented area. Less familiar was that voice that carried out into the hall as she neared, a voice with which she was all too well-acquainted.

"Giles?" It was better, she supposed, than catching him on stage at the local coffee shop - or, as they were now nowhere near Sunnydale, performing karaoke at The Hub. Still, Giles and singing were two things she preferred to keep very separate, much like herself and book research.

Fortunately, the shock of hearing Giles sing was enough to distract her from the aforementioned elephant issue.

[steedtoherpeel]

"Buffy." He hadn't seen her since they'd taken that walk when Jenny's grave appeared. He was better now -- much, honestly. British stiff-upper-lip-ism won again.

He offered a faint little half-smile. "I find the shelf is much more accommodating when she is entertained."

[chose]

"She?" Buffy didn't bother to hide her concern. Although she was mostly certain that Giles was still relatively sane, she raised an eyebrow in his direction. A Slayer was never too old to tease her Watcher mercilessly, was she? "I know you're all Mr. Librarian but don't you think that courting the bookshelf is taking the hobby just a little too far?"

[steedtoherpeel]

He quirked a little half-smile. "As a captain calls his ship and a musician calls his instrument. There is a long and storied tradition of professionals giving their tools a personality," he responded with some dignity.

He moved the guitar aside. "Beyond that, I have someone quite different to court, these days. Would you care for some tea?"