Watcher, until the next is called - Part 5
Title: Watcher, until the next is called
Chapter: 5/?
Author: astarte lydianna
Rating: NC-17
Season: During 3 and then I wander off the plotlines a bit :)
Disclaimer: I do not own Buffy the fandom or characters or anything else recognisable and make no money from this.
Summary: After a slayer turns 18 the cruciamentum isn't the only thing she faces. Council are creepy in this and there will be adult content.
Author’s Notes: Please no one beat me too hard for taking forever, I’m having serious laptop issues…in that it is dying a slow and painful death!
Disclaimer: Usual, I make no money and can’t even pretend to own Buffy the franchise nor the characters etc etc etc.
Part Five
“So just how did two watchers manage to get captured so easily anyway?” Buffy asked as they headed out of the factory.
“You can blame captain courageous here for that one.” Giles spoke up. “When they held a sword to his throat, I was tempted to just let them get on with it but I decided since he wasn’t strictly evil, I probably should at least try not to get him killed faster.”
“Then why on earth did you antagonize that vile creature?” Wesley asked in horror.
“Well by that point my choices were stall for time so that Buffy had time to reach us or stall for time before dying so I didn’t really see a downside.” He murmured. “I’m sure there was a thank you for saving my skinny arse in there somewhere.”
“W-well, your sword skills were rather impressive I must admit…” Wesley stammered.
"You were amazing Giles, unlike some." Buffy nodded to him. She looked back at Wesley trailing after them. "I thought Travers said you and the other guy were highly trained?"
"W-well...we were trained to watch primarily. And command the slayer to fulfil her duties of course." he spoke up. "I say, if you know where Faith is then you have a responsibility to the council to inform us of her whereabouts."
"Alright, she was here, now she's gone." Buffy told him flippantly. She stopped and turned on heel to face him defiantly. "Now you know what I know, she's in and out of town. I don't know where and I don't know why."
"But she came with you to rescue us?" he blinked in confusion.
"Yes, slaying is her job too remember. It’s you and your stupid council buddies that keep running her off." she gritted out, folding her arms in front of her. "She came to save your ass and you still want to drag her back here to be bond to you like some pet for training."
"And how might I ask did you find us?" Wesley asked smugly, causing Buffy to pause and glance towards Giles, who looked at had curiously, when he noticed her hesitation. "I wonder where you would be Miss Summers were you and Mr Giles not bonded in such a way."
"I wouldn't be dead if that's what you mean because his life wouldn’t be linked with mine." she replied.
"And Mr Giles? Where would he be?" Wesley asked.
"I'd find a way, the factories downtown are quite common spots for demon activity, I would've checked there. It may have taken a little longer but I’m pretty confident in my watcher’s stalling abilities." she told him firmly.
"You used the bond to find me?" Giles asked. "I didn't show you that."
"Angel guessed about the bond and told me it was possible, I just had to wing it. Luckily it worked." she explained.
“I’ve seen it before.” Angel commented from behind Wesley.
"You used the bond without training? Remarkable." the younger watcher commented. "I can't understand why Mr Travers had such issues with the relationship between you; it is certainly intriguing...worth studying I should say."
"Yes well, perhaps Buffy and I should go and discuss exactly that. Angel would you mind terribly escorting him home to see he doesn't get in any more trouble?" he asked.
Once the two were out of their sight they headed back towards the school as Giles wanted to lock up since he hadn’t been able to before they had been forcibly removed from the building.
“You did very well to use the bond in such a way without any training Buffy, thank you.” He told her.
“No big.” She shrugged. “I just honed, like you always say I should with the vamps and hey it’s actually a real positive of this whole thing. At least now whenever my watcher gets taken hostage I can find him.”
“Yes well, there are advantages to it.” He agreed.
“Are there more neat tricks?” she asked as they entered the building.
“Undoubtedly.” He nodded. “There are a few that I know of and more than likely a great many I don’t. It’ll take time and research and a bit of experimentation but I’m sure we will be able to find some other perks in it.”
“Cool, like what?” she asked.
“Telepathy for one.” He told her moving into his office to turn off the lights and lock up behind him. “If I practiced a bit I could use magic to speak directly to you into your mind but you aren’t a magic user so you couldn’t open a connection that way. The bond should allow us to communicate into one another’s minds directly regardless of distance, with a great deal of practice of course.”
“Of course.” She muttered. “Of course to get the perks there has to be more work involved.”
“Well I wouldn’t be too disheartened, after all you didn’t practice using it to find me, you just did it.” He comforted her as they left the library again.
“I spoke to Faith about it earlier, not the extra gifts or anything…just about Wesley mostly.” She told him. He didn’t comment, instead he waited patiently for her to continue as they made their way to his car. “I told her to either turn herself over to Wesley directly soon or to run and never come back.”
“And what did she say to that?” he asked neutrally.
“That she’d think about it.” She shrugged. “She doesn’t want to be bonded to Wesley, but she wants to help us. Isn’t there any way we can convince the council to use a different bond?”
“Well…I can speak to Wesley and see if we can appeal I suppose.” He replied uncertainly. “Let me drop you home.”
~*~*~
They hadn't really talked for a few days, they’d been more open but they had glossed over their previous issues as they always did. She knew seeing Angel had unnerved him and she knew she should talk to him about it...didn’t make it any easier to do though. She did manage to work up the nerve to go to his home.
"I didn't go looking for Angel by the way, he came and found me to tell me that you'd been demon-knapped." She blurted out as they headed inside.
"You told me, it’s fine Buffy." he nodded, heading to the kitchen. "Tea?"
"Please." she agreed. "Giles, I mean it...I wouldn't have gotten him involved if he hadn't already been involved."
"Buffy, even I can understand the usefulness of having him around, an extra body in this fight is a good thing...but that doesn't mean I will ever be comfortable with it, it doesn't mean I have to like it and you have no right to ask that of me." he told her.
"And I wouldn't." she told him softly. "I...Giles let's just say I got a pretty clear understanding recently about exactly what you would do for me if I asked and it put a few things into perspective. If you were that angry about Angel being back...then he really hurt you, worse than I ever knew about. We never talked about it, not properly and we...Giles I'm sorry that I didn't tell you but it wasn't because I was scared you guys would send him away or anything...it was because I didn't know how. How could I tell someone I care about that the person who tortured him and killed his girlfriend is still around?"
"Then you should've sent him away." Giles said stiffly. "If you knew it was wrong, you shouldn't have been doing it."
"It wasn't that it was wrong." she protested. "Giles...he was Angel again, the Angel I sent to hell! I killed him! I sentenced him to like a hundred years of torture in a hell dimension and he came back half starved and insane. When I first found him..."
"You must have been thrilled." Giles muttered.
"Look, I know you're angry but we never talk about things and it’s not always just me...you're not exactly share guy. I'm trying here so at least let me." she insisted. "I loved Angel when I killed him, part of me hated him too obviously...the Angelus part, the fact that he could switch back and forth like that... Anyway, I loved him so much...but I had to kill him. I had to. So I did, it hurt...between nearly losing you, killing Angel and my Mum kicking me out, I just...I needed to get away. Running away may not have been a great decision but...I grieved for Angel, I gradually opened up to the fact that he was dead and gone and believe it or not I started to get over him."
"Then he came back." he nodded.
"Yeah...and at first I was just shocked. I acted on instinct, getting him somewhere safe and bringing him some blood to stop him starving. He was half crazy Giles but he was still the good Angel, it was a tough call because it meant he was a risk but I didn't have it in me to kill him again.” She whispered sadly. “So I hid him away for a bit to assess things...see if he stayed crazy or if he would get better. Then when he was almost normal I knew I had to tell you guys, but I didn't know how...I mean I’d have to explain that I hadn’t said anything before…then Xander..."
"You kissed him Buffy." He said bluntly.
"Yes I did, twice actually. That time and another before that." she said just as bluntly in return. "I still cared about him, he was still gorgeous and I still loved him even if I was starting to let go. You're the adult here Giles, are you telling me that feelings for people just vanish instantly, just because they should? I...Angel and I are not back together, we know that we can't be together but that doesn't mean we have all the answers."
"I'm sorry Buffy." he said softly and he actually appeared to mean it. Not for Angel's sake, he didn't care about Angel...for hers.
"I told you the truth the other night; I can’t be just friends with Angel while he's this close. I started to get over him, I need to finish getting over him before I can ever be friends." she said feeling tears prickling her eyes, then she shook her head. "I...I think Spike was right...Angel and I, we'll never be friends."
"Spike being right? Well that is a frightful notion...it isn't necessarily true either." he told her moving to sit next to her.
"He said we'd be um...loving each other and fighting each other until we died but that we'd never be friends." she said quietly.
"I take it those weren't his exact words?" he asked with an amused smirk.
"No, there was some mentioning of hating and shagging and quivering and killing and stuff but I'm sure you get the point." she admitted.
"Ah well, yes...in all likelihood as things are now that's probably true. If you never truly take the time to stop seeing someone as one thing, then you aren't likely to ever see them as anything else." he nodded, taking her hand in his and squeezing encouragingly. "But whilst you may not be friends now, say for example you and Angel were in a position to both go your separate ways and move on with other people when you felt ready. If you then saw each other again years later you would more than likely be able to become friends since you would have had time to fully get over your love for him."
"Which is what I wanted to achieve by not seeing him but you know, small town and I can’t really leave it nor can I just go find another boyfriend because the minute I get um...yeah badness." she murmured. She looked up at him and stared into his eyes, those eyes that saw straight threw her. He knew her in and out. Why did she ever think she could lie to him? "I never fooled you at all did I? I told Angel...that I could fool you and the guys but I couldn't fool me but I didn't have you fooled at all."
"It's my job to know you, my duty, my calling as it were, is to know you, watch you. You could have a boyfriend, you could go out and have a nice time, you could even kiss him, it's only the final act that is a problem...no different from dating Angel really." he commented.
"That isn't fair to anyone though. I mean I'll consider it...you know like just that occasional one date thing but come on Giles...teenage boys are all about the smoochies leading to the...bedroom and you know what happens if I date a guy and then fall in love with him? Right back to square one except this guy won't go evil we'll just both get some kind of magical shock therapy that I so don't want to experience and ultimately…we’ll be wanting something we can’t have."
"All very true, and all things you will have to decide as the situations arise." he agreed. "Now, since we have quite exhausted the topic of Angel for tonight at least perhaps you could talk to me about how you found us the other day?" At this shift in topic he released her hand and moved to nurse his cup of tea again.
"Oh, it was kinda weird and cool." she grinned. "I'd been fighting off vamps with Faith and then Angel told us you'd been kidnapped. I said I knew you weren't dead at least because then I'd be dead, so Angel guessed about the bond. He said he'd seen it before and that I should be able to find you using the bond but he didn't know how it worked. So I improvised, I used my vamp senses as a watcher sense instead."
"You honed in on a vampire only you found me instead?" he asked looking confused.
"No, I remember the whole honing thing when I concentrate on that crampy uneasy feeling vampires give me, so instead I concentrated on you and then I felt it, followed it and bam there you were." She said enthusiastically. He picked up his glasses from the table where he had placed them earlier and put them back on.
"Fascinating, I only briefly read about the bond's abilities, in so much as I read about all the known abilities but not the how to or any in depth research of them." he said standing and heading to his bookcase. "Is it something you can always feel do you think or do you have to concentrate intensely?"
"In the middle, I don't feel it unless I think about it but now I know it's there and what it feels like I don't need to concentrate on it properly...but I might need to if you were further away like earlier. I didn't think about that, it could just be easier because you're right here."
"That's true but as you said, since you now know what it feels like it should be easier than the first time." he told her concentrating more on his book than her for a moment. When he looked up he met her eyes intently. "What did it feel like? In theory it should also work in reverse but it would help if I knew what I was searching for."
"It's um...it's like a pulse almost, especially when I was trying to find you. When I used it to find you it became an almost tugging feeling." she told him.
"What does it feel like right now?" he asked her. She closed her eyes before answering, concentrating on the bond that she now felt.
"Warm, like a little quiet pulse just here." she pointed around her abdomen vaguely. "It almost buzzes when you're this close, the further away you are the more it becomes more of a pulse. I think that's what I'm trying to say, I'm not word gal."
"No, you're doing fine. I imagine it's not the sort of thing that can easily be explained, as is the case with most supernatural things." he nodded. "Perhaps if you could go and stand outside I could try? I won’t look which way you go, walk around a bit so that I don't know where you are."
She shrugged and headed out of the door before wandering around his courtyard, and then she changed her mind and left the courtyard before wandering a short way down the street.
Giles put the book on the coffee table before focusing his inner energies, once he centered himself he tried to focus on Buffy. He felt strange doing it but sure enough he began to feel a strange sensation in his stomach. It was a similar sensation to that which came with certain location spells which made sense, there was a slightly more intense and personal touch to this though. He felt a firmer tugging sensation, as if it were insistent that he move, so he did. He followed it until sure enough he saw Buffy stood at the end of the street waiting for him.
"Took you long enough." she grinned.
"Yes well, I don't have the added advantages of being a slayer." he murmured, nodding for her to follow him back.
"But you've got all that mystical knowledge and magicky stuff, surely it'd be easier for you." she argued.
"We can’t all be good at everything Buffy, some things take longer than others to pick up." he replied. "At least this is an extremely useful skill to have. We shall have to practice using it, during the day time would be best so that we can minimize interruptions of the slaying variety."
"What like hide and seek?" she asked perkily.
"Something like that." he chuckled. "Still if you are late back from patrol or if there is a threat and we need to find you, it will be very useful."
"Just be careful where you find me, I don't fancy you busting into the girls locker room or anything next time the worlds ending." She replied picking up her coat from his couch.
"S-surely you wouldn't think I'd simply go waltzing in there?" he asked looking appalled. "I'd at least knock, or send Willow in there or something. Anyway, I'd like to think that the fate of the world would come above modesty, for either of us, if it was necessary."
"Been there, done that." she mumbled.
"Yes, well...on that note you should probably get at least part of a night's rest." he said clearly dismissing her.
"Night Giles." she called heading out the door.
Chapter: 5/?
Author: astarte lydianna
Rating: NC-17
Season: During 3 and then I wander off the plotlines a bit :)
Disclaimer: I do not own Buffy the fandom or characters or anything else recognisable and make no money from this.
Summary: After a slayer turns 18 the cruciamentum isn't the only thing she faces. Council are creepy in this and there will be adult content.
Author’s Notes: Please no one beat me too hard for taking forever, I’m having serious laptop issues…in that it is dying a slow and painful death!
Disclaimer: Usual, I make no money and can’t even pretend to own Buffy the franchise nor the characters etc etc etc.
Part Five
“So just how did two watchers manage to get captured so easily anyway?” Buffy asked as they headed out of the factory.
“You can blame captain courageous here for that one.” Giles spoke up. “When they held a sword to his throat, I was tempted to just let them get on with it but I decided since he wasn’t strictly evil, I probably should at least try not to get him killed faster.”
“Then why on earth did you antagonize that vile creature?” Wesley asked in horror.
“Well by that point my choices were stall for time so that Buffy had time to reach us or stall for time before dying so I didn’t really see a downside.” He murmured. “I’m sure there was a thank you for saving my skinny arse in there somewhere.”
“W-well, your sword skills were rather impressive I must admit…” Wesley stammered.
"You were amazing Giles, unlike some." Buffy nodded to him. She looked back at Wesley trailing after them. "I thought Travers said you and the other guy were highly trained?"
"W-well...we were trained to watch primarily. And command the slayer to fulfil her duties of course." he spoke up. "I say, if you know where Faith is then you have a responsibility to the council to inform us of her whereabouts."
"Alright, she was here, now she's gone." Buffy told him flippantly. She stopped and turned on heel to face him defiantly. "Now you know what I know, she's in and out of town. I don't know where and I don't know why."
"But she came with you to rescue us?" he blinked in confusion.
"Yes, slaying is her job too remember. It’s you and your stupid council buddies that keep running her off." she gritted out, folding her arms in front of her. "She came to save your ass and you still want to drag her back here to be bond to you like some pet for training."
"And how might I ask did you find us?" Wesley asked smugly, causing Buffy to pause and glance towards Giles, who looked at had curiously, when he noticed her hesitation. "I wonder where you would be Miss Summers were you and Mr Giles not bonded in such a way."
"I wouldn't be dead if that's what you mean because his life wouldn’t be linked with mine." she replied.
"And Mr Giles? Where would he be?" Wesley asked.
"I'd find a way, the factories downtown are quite common spots for demon activity, I would've checked there. It may have taken a little longer but I’m pretty confident in my watcher’s stalling abilities." she told him firmly.
"You used the bond to find me?" Giles asked. "I didn't show you that."
"Angel guessed about the bond and told me it was possible, I just had to wing it. Luckily it worked." she explained.
“I’ve seen it before.” Angel commented from behind Wesley.
"You used the bond without training? Remarkable." the younger watcher commented. "I can't understand why Mr Travers had such issues with the relationship between you; it is certainly intriguing...worth studying I should say."
"Yes well, perhaps Buffy and I should go and discuss exactly that. Angel would you mind terribly escorting him home to see he doesn't get in any more trouble?" he asked.
Once the two were out of their sight they headed back towards the school as Giles wanted to lock up since he hadn’t been able to before they had been forcibly removed from the building.
“You did very well to use the bond in such a way without any training Buffy, thank you.” He told her.
“No big.” She shrugged. “I just honed, like you always say I should with the vamps and hey it’s actually a real positive of this whole thing. At least now whenever my watcher gets taken hostage I can find him.”
“Yes well, there are advantages to it.” He agreed.
“Are there more neat tricks?” she asked as they entered the building.
“Undoubtedly.” He nodded. “There are a few that I know of and more than likely a great many I don’t. It’ll take time and research and a bit of experimentation but I’m sure we will be able to find some other perks in it.”
“Cool, like what?” she asked.
“Telepathy for one.” He told her moving into his office to turn off the lights and lock up behind him. “If I practiced a bit I could use magic to speak directly to you into your mind but you aren’t a magic user so you couldn’t open a connection that way. The bond should allow us to communicate into one another’s minds directly regardless of distance, with a great deal of practice of course.”
“Of course.” She muttered. “Of course to get the perks there has to be more work involved.”
“Well I wouldn’t be too disheartened, after all you didn’t practice using it to find me, you just did it.” He comforted her as they left the library again.
“I spoke to Faith about it earlier, not the extra gifts or anything…just about Wesley mostly.” She told him. He didn’t comment, instead he waited patiently for her to continue as they made their way to his car. “I told her to either turn herself over to Wesley directly soon or to run and never come back.”
“And what did she say to that?” he asked neutrally.
“That she’d think about it.” She shrugged. “She doesn’t want to be bonded to Wesley, but she wants to help us. Isn’t there any way we can convince the council to use a different bond?”
“Well…I can speak to Wesley and see if we can appeal I suppose.” He replied uncertainly. “Let me drop you home.”
~*~*~
They hadn't really talked for a few days, they’d been more open but they had glossed over their previous issues as they always did. She knew seeing Angel had unnerved him and she knew she should talk to him about it...didn’t make it any easier to do though. She did manage to work up the nerve to go to his home.
"I didn't go looking for Angel by the way, he came and found me to tell me that you'd been demon-knapped." She blurted out as they headed inside.
"You told me, it’s fine Buffy." he nodded, heading to the kitchen. "Tea?"
"Please." she agreed. "Giles, I mean it...I wouldn't have gotten him involved if he hadn't already been involved."
"Buffy, even I can understand the usefulness of having him around, an extra body in this fight is a good thing...but that doesn't mean I will ever be comfortable with it, it doesn't mean I have to like it and you have no right to ask that of me." he told her.
"And I wouldn't." she told him softly. "I...Giles let's just say I got a pretty clear understanding recently about exactly what you would do for me if I asked and it put a few things into perspective. If you were that angry about Angel being back...then he really hurt you, worse than I ever knew about. We never talked about it, not properly and we...Giles I'm sorry that I didn't tell you but it wasn't because I was scared you guys would send him away or anything...it was because I didn't know how. How could I tell someone I care about that the person who tortured him and killed his girlfriend is still around?"
"Then you should've sent him away." Giles said stiffly. "If you knew it was wrong, you shouldn't have been doing it."
"It wasn't that it was wrong." she protested. "Giles...he was Angel again, the Angel I sent to hell! I killed him! I sentenced him to like a hundred years of torture in a hell dimension and he came back half starved and insane. When I first found him..."
"You must have been thrilled." Giles muttered.
"Look, I know you're angry but we never talk about things and it’s not always just me...you're not exactly share guy. I'm trying here so at least let me." she insisted. "I loved Angel when I killed him, part of me hated him too obviously...the Angelus part, the fact that he could switch back and forth like that... Anyway, I loved him so much...but I had to kill him. I had to. So I did, it hurt...between nearly losing you, killing Angel and my Mum kicking me out, I just...I needed to get away. Running away may not have been a great decision but...I grieved for Angel, I gradually opened up to the fact that he was dead and gone and believe it or not I started to get over him."
"Then he came back." he nodded.
"Yeah...and at first I was just shocked. I acted on instinct, getting him somewhere safe and bringing him some blood to stop him starving. He was half crazy Giles but he was still the good Angel, it was a tough call because it meant he was a risk but I didn't have it in me to kill him again.” She whispered sadly. “So I hid him away for a bit to assess things...see if he stayed crazy or if he would get better. Then when he was almost normal I knew I had to tell you guys, but I didn't know how...I mean I’d have to explain that I hadn’t said anything before…then Xander..."
"You kissed him Buffy." He said bluntly.
"Yes I did, twice actually. That time and another before that." she said just as bluntly in return. "I still cared about him, he was still gorgeous and I still loved him even if I was starting to let go. You're the adult here Giles, are you telling me that feelings for people just vanish instantly, just because they should? I...Angel and I are not back together, we know that we can't be together but that doesn't mean we have all the answers."
"I'm sorry Buffy." he said softly and he actually appeared to mean it. Not for Angel's sake, he didn't care about Angel...for hers.
"I told you the truth the other night; I can’t be just friends with Angel while he's this close. I started to get over him, I need to finish getting over him before I can ever be friends." she said feeling tears prickling her eyes, then she shook her head. "I...I think Spike was right...Angel and I, we'll never be friends."
"Spike being right? Well that is a frightful notion...it isn't necessarily true either." he told her moving to sit next to her.
"He said we'd be um...loving each other and fighting each other until we died but that we'd never be friends." she said quietly.
"I take it those weren't his exact words?" he asked with an amused smirk.
"No, there was some mentioning of hating and shagging and quivering and killing and stuff but I'm sure you get the point." she admitted.
"Ah well, yes...in all likelihood as things are now that's probably true. If you never truly take the time to stop seeing someone as one thing, then you aren't likely to ever see them as anything else." he nodded, taking her hand in his and squeezing encouragingly. "But whilst you may not be friends now, say for example you and Angel were in a position to both go your separate ways and move on with other people when you felt ready. If you then saw each other again years later you would more than likely be able to become friends since you would have had time to fully get over your love for him."
"Which is what I wanted to achieve by not seeing him but you know, small town and I can’t really leave it nor can I just go find another boyfriend because the minute I get um...yeah badness." she murmured. She looked up at him and stared into his eyes, those eyes that saw straight threw her. He knew her in and out. Why did she ever think she could lie to him? "I never fooled you at all did I? I told Angel...that I could fool you and the guys but I couldn't fool me but I didn't have you fooled at all."
"It's my job to know you, my duty, my calling as it were, is to know you, watch you. You could have a boyfriend, you could go out and have a nice time, you could even kiss him, it's only the final act that is a problem...no different from dating Angel really." he commented.
"That isn't fair to anyone though. I mean I'll consider it...you know like just that occasional one date thing but come on Giles...teenage boys are all about the smoochies leading to the...bedroom and you know what happens if I date a guy and then fall in love with him? Right back to square one except this guy won't go evil we'll just both get some kind of magical shock therapy that I so don't want to experience and ultimately…we’ll be wanting something we can’t have."
"All very true, and all things you will have to decide as the situations arise." he agreed. "Now, since we have quite exhausted the topic of Angel for tonight at least perhaps you could talk to me about how you found us the other day?" At this shift in topic he released her hand and moved to nurse his cup of tea again.
"Oh, it was kinda weird and cool." she grinned. "I'd been fighting off vamps with Faith and then Angel told us you'd been kidnapped. I said I knew you weren't dead at least because then I'd be dead, so Angel guessed about the bond. He said he'd seen it before and that I should be able to find you using the bond but he didn't know how it worked. So I improvised, I used my vamp senses as a watcher sense instead."
"You honed in on a vampire only you found me instead?" he asked looking confused.
"No, I remember the whole honing thing when I concentrate on that crampy uneasy feeling vampires give me, so instead I concentrated on you and then I felt it, followed it and bam there you were." She said enthusiastically. He picked up his glasses from the table where he had placed them earlier and put them back on.
"Fascinating, I only briefly read about the bond's abilities, in so much as I read about all the known abilities but not the how to or any in depth research of them." he said standing and heading to his bookcase. "Is it something you can always feel do you think or do you have to concentrate intensely?"
"In the middle, I don't feel it unless I think about it but now I know it's there and what it feels like I don't need to concentrate on it properly...but I might need to if you were further away like earlier. I didn't think about that, it could just be easier because you're right here."
"That's true but as you said, since you now know what it feels like it should be easier than the first time." he told her concentrating more on his book than her for a moment. When he looked up he met her eyes intently. "What did it feel like? In theory it should also work in reverse but it would help if I knew what I was searching for."
"It's um...it's like a pulse almost, especially when I was trying to find you. When I used it to find you it became an almost tugging feeling." she told him.
"What does it feel like right now?" he asked her. She closed her eyes before answering, concentrating on the bond that she now felt.
"Warm, like a little quiet pulse just here." she pointed around her abdomen vaguely. "It almost buzzes when you're this close, the further away you are the more it becomes more of a pulse. I think that's what I'm trying to say, I'm not word gal."
"No, you're doing fine. I imagine it's not the sort of thing that can easily be explained, as is the case with most supernatural things." he nodded. "Perhaps if you could go and stand outside I could try? I won’t look which way you go, walk around a bit so that I don't know where you are."
She shrugged and headed out of the door before wandering around his courtyard, and then she changed her mind and left the courtyard before wandering a short way down the street.
Giles put the book on the coffee table before focusing his inner energies, once he centered himself he tried to focus on Buffy. He felt strange doing it but sure enough he began to feel a strange sensation in his stomach. It was a similar sensation to that which came with certain location spells which made sense, there was a slightly more intense and personal touch to this though. He felt a firmer tugging sensation, as if it were insistent that he move, so he did. He followed it until sure enough he saw Buffy stood at the end of the street waiting for him.
"Took you long enough." she grinned.
"Yes well, I don't have the added advantages of being a slayer." he murmured, nodding for her to follow him back.
"But you've got all that mystical knowledge and magicky stuff, surely it'd be easier for you." she argued.
"We can’t all be good at everything Buffy, some things take longer than others to pick up." he replied. "At least this is an extremely useful skill to have. We shall have to practice using it, during the day time would be best so that we can minimize interruptions of the slaying variety."
"What like hide and seek?" she asked perkily.
"Something like that." he chuckled. "Still if you are late back from patrol or if there is a threat and we need to find you, it will be very useful."
"Just be careful where you find me, I don't fancy you busting into the girls locker room or anything next time the worlds ending." She replied picking up her coat from his couch.
"S-surely you wouldn't think I'd simply go waltzing in there?" he asked looking appalled. "I'd at least knock, or send Willow in there or something. Anyway, I'd like to think that the fate of the world would come above modesty, for either of us, if it was necessary."
"Been there, done that." she mumbled.
"Yes, well...on that note you should probably get at least part of a night's rest." he said clearly dismissing her.
"Night Giles." she called heading out the door.