Kallikantzaroi (Giles/Xander)
Kallikantzaroi
by Dr Squidlove
drsquidlove@virginqueen.com
No archiving, thanks.
A Drunken Giles needs an escort home from the Scooby Christmas gathering. Xander's it.
A Giles Drunkathon entry for joolzmp7. Request at the end.
Rated... PG-13. Some lustiness.
Set at Christmas of Season Five. So, post-Riley, in a universe where Anya's already wandered off for some reason or another.
Wordcount: 2210
All my blings belongs to Joss.
Um, first Joolz, huge apologies for the lateness. This was hard. And (okay, mostly) I was disorganised. I was hoping to do something more creative but... I just couldn't do it without more plot. But it's G/X, so not all bad!
Kallikantzaroi
"Are you certain you'll be all right, Rupert?"
Mrs Summers looked shocked and the girls just looked faintly embarrassed. In all their chatter, none of them had really noticed how much Giles was drinking in his corner. Neither, by the mortified looks of him, had Giles.
Xander had noticed, but... Well, their relationship had progressed a fair way past "Hey, watch out for that demon behind you," but he didn't know if it had reached "Hey, watch out for that quart of whiskey you've belted back in front of your Slayer's mother."
Though now, seeing the way Giles had lurched out of his chair, barely saving himself from going straight over on his face, bringing the scooby team to a very loud silence... Maybe Xander should have braved the wrath potential and waded a little further into the guy-trust zone.
Giles rubbed his forehead. "I'm, I'm afraid, I'm not sure I should drive."
"I'll say."
As one, everyone in the room turned a glare on Buffy. Except probably Tara, who didn't seem capable of glaring at anyone, but Willow pretty much had it covered for the pair of them.
"I'll fetch some blankets." Mrs Summers stood, but Giles waved her down.
"Perhaps Xander..."
Why not. Christmas drunks were Xander's Christmas tradition. "Yeah, I'll drive you home."
Giles thanked him with a nod... half a nod... sort of half a glance, really. And then his path to Mrs Summers was decidedly winding. "Thank you for dinner, Joyce. Sorry I..."
She smiled and clasped his hands. "It was my pleasure. And if it wasn't for these pills I'm on, I would have drunk you under the table. Are you sure you won't come back tomorrow?"
"Christmas is for family."
"You are family."
"Thank you." He managed to say it so it sounded like a very firm 'no'. "It's good to see you looking well."
There were goodbyes and thank yous for dinner and merry christmases all-round, dragged out as they all inched slowly towards the door and spilled out onto the chilly front porch.
"Thank you again for the, err, colander," Mrs Summers said, casting a sceptical eye at the bit of kitchenware hanging over the door.
"Yup," agreed Buffy. "Always good to keep a house safe from killa... kalli... Christmas goblins."
"Kallikantzaroi." He couldn't walk straight but he could spit out demon names that none of the rest of them could manage sober.
"Yes. Thank you."
They kept on swapping last-minute thoughts and warm wishes like they weren't going to see each other for months, dragging on as Giles slipped through increasingly powerful shades of green, until Xander started to worry if he'd make it home.
"I'm pulling the cord," he announced. "Me and Giles are gone. Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night."
He bowed, and set off for the car, walking slowly enough to not embarrass Giles too much more, and opened the door for him. And yes, he did get the romantic implications of opening a car door for someone, and no, he definitely didn't get a tingle all over his skin as he did it. Xander had a very powerful filter in place, whenever it came to Giles.
Once Giles was safely seated he circled around, waved to the women, and climbed in. "You're not going to barf in my car, are you?"
"No," said Giles, but the way he was staying very still with his eyes closed and his fists bunched on his thighs said differently.
He'd looked good tonight. Before the queasiness. They'd all dressed up a bit for their Christmas Eve dinner, and Giles was wearing a jacket and tie. The nice sort he'd discovered this year, not the tweedy kind of old. Even drunk, he still looked good.
Xander sighed, and stuck the key in the ignition. "Just warn me if I need to pull over, all right? And wind down your window; it'll help."
* * *
They made it to his house without incident. Giles even looked a little better, thanks to the fresh air, and he now had attractively windswept hair to go with the attractive jacket and tie.
God. Xander was a goner. He was usually way better at keeping his feelings (feeling, singular: lust, if he was going to be honest) in check. Guess this was that Christmas sentimentality that people who didn't live in Xander's house talked about.
There was no sarcastic reply, which said more about Giles' state than the very careful steps. Giles just lifted his gaze skywards. "I'm a pillock."
"You know, I never figured out exactly what that means."
The glare came slowly, but it settled hard.
"But, yeah. You kinda were one, tonight."
He turned away, rubbing his face. "I've humilated myself."
"Um. Yeah. But it was probably just your turn."
Giles looked at him startled, and then he smiled, and then he started to shake. Laughing. Thank god. And look at the way his face lined as he laughed.
No, don't look. That way lies madness.
Giles managed to climb out of the car on his own, but Xander wasn't taking any chances. Door-to-door delivery. He went around to join him. "We're gonna take the stairs slow, okay?"
Xander wasn't sure Giles was capable of the stairs, but he wasn't about to be wrapping an arm around him just yet.
"'M'fine." Giles waved an arm at Xander as his other hand felt around for the rail.
"That's it. Rail is good."
Two steps and Giles pitched forward.
"Giles!"
Xander leapt down, too late to grab him so he shoved him into the wall to save him from tumbling all the way into the courtyard.
They stood frozen for a really long moment, a moment long enough for Xander to take stock of every place their bodies touched. Hand on Giles' shoulder. Arm pinning his chest. Giles' hand braced flat to Xander's chest. Their thighs, knee almost to groin.
Giles was breathing fast, charged with adrenaline. His glasses were crooked, his eyes wide, mouth open. Xander was breathing fast for a very different reason, and finding it very difficult to step back. He really wanted to straighten Giles' glasses. Would it be weird, if he lifted his hand, rested a finger on the wire rim and slid them back in place?
Was it weird that he was still standing here, pressed against him, staring into his eyes?
Giles lifted a finger to his lips. "Ssshhhhhhhhhh!" And then he smiled again, like he'd just told a really funny joke.
Right. Time for that arm-wrapping thing. Xander peeled himself off and slid an arm around Giles' waist. Giles had a really nicely shaped waist. Xander swallowed. "One step at a time, okay?"
"I'm quite drunk."
"Yes, you are."
"You're taking care of me."
"Yes, I am."
One step, one step, one step. Their legs together. Giles' body in his arm, joined to his side. One step, one step.
They reached the bottom and Xander sighed in relief. Out of danger. Xander savoured his armful of Giles for a split second more, and then loosened his grip, but didn't let go completely. Just let his hand slide down to the small of Giles' back. Had to keep him steady. "Got your keys?"
"I don't want to go home."
"We're kinda there already."
Giles grabbed his arm. "Let's go somewhere else."
"We need to get you to bed."
Giles shook his head, looking very, very serious. "There's nobody there."
"I know." Xander wasn't sure what he was supposed to say, so he just said, "Keys?"
"No."
"Fine. Just don't go all British on me tomorrow."
Who was he kidding? What had already happened tonight was already a few hundred miles past where Giles would ever be able to face him again. Xander patting down his pockets until he found the tell-tale jingle couldn't possibly make this worse in the morning. All the more reason to enjoy it now, he supposed.
Giles honest-to-god giggled as Xander stuffed a hand in his pocket. Giggled. If he remembered any of this in the morning, Giles was going to move back to England. Xander brightened at the possibility that Giles might not remember.
They got as far as the door, and Xander propped Giles against the wall to lean down and try to find the keyhole in the dim light, and Xander felt... was that a hand on his ass?
He jerked up, and found Giles looking airily off in no particular direction. Whoa. He really had groped Xander's ass.
Now, Xander was adaptable. He'd adapted to levels of weird that few mortals would ever face. But Giles had just groped his ass, and however much Xander had imagined such things in his his wilder fantasies, the reality was... way too weird.
This would be one of those avoidance things. So Xander bent back to the lock and yelped at the absolutely-no-question-now grope and opened his mouth to give Giles a damn good talking-to and found himself pressed against the door, being kissed like nobody's business.
Like, whiskey-flavoured deep exploration with real ass-groping hands action. And that was so totally a whole new dimension of weird that it took Xander a good few moments to work his brain from his kneaded ass forward to whoa, that was an erection Giles was trying to stick in Xander's pocket.
Probably, this was supposed to be the moment where Xander shoved Giles off him and acted all shocked and swore he couldn't take advantage and dragged Giles inside to sleep himself sober.
But Giles was kissing him, so no way in hell was that going to happen. Xander wrapped his arms around him and dragged him closer and kissed him back like this was a once-in-a-lifetime offer, working every knee-trembling trick he knew, sinking his fingers into Giles' hair and back, possibly verging on desperate. Giles didn't stop.
In fact, Giles kept on kissing every bit as well as Xander had ever imagined, sexy and dirty and unrestrained. Grinding against him. Fingers slipped under Xander's shirt, followed by a hand, sweeping up his spine and back down to rub the small of his back, and already this was hotter than any sex Xander had ever had.
Xander really, really wanted this to lead to sex.
Okay, Giles was drunk. And ethically, possibly, this could fall under the class of 'taking advantage.' But, on the other hand, Xander was nineteen, and Giles was forty-a-lot, and some might call that taking advantage, so you could say it kind of evened out. Maybe.
"Giles." More kissing. "Giles."
Giles nibbled down Xander's neck.
"Giles, please don't think I want this to stop, but are you sure you... I mean, you're not... oh, screw it." Xander was gonna go with it. "How about we just move this inside?"
A teasing finger dragged under the waist of Xander's jeans. "Let 'em watch."
Dear god, that was a really hot idea, but a bad one. "That'd be, um, great for the neighbours, but, oh god don't stop, vampires, remember? Demons? Supernatural, ah!, beasties? We can do this inside. We can do more inside."
"All right then." Quick as that Xander was free, but as soon as he turned the key in the lock he was pushed in by about a dozen roaming hands, all trying to work off his clothes.
"Oh, dear lord."
They came to a sudden, sober halt.
The apartment had been ransacked. Every book off the shelves, everything Giles owned strewn around the room, and in the middle, under Giles' half-assed little Christmas tree, was a big pile of coal.
Oh no. No, no, no, no. No way were they going to get the kissing back, now. Xander spun to face Giles. "It's not so bad."
The look Giles turned on him was scathing, and not at all lusty or drunk. Right. The kissing was over.
Giles pulled off his glasses and pressed his palms to his eyes, rubbing like a little kid. "I forgot my colander."
Xander blinked. Colander? "The calico-roy demon?"
"Kallikantzaroi."
Xander stared around the room. "This is what it does?"
"Yes."
"Is there a spell to get rid of it?"
"I could tell you, but that would require that I find a book."
"Right." No books were going to be found any time soon. Xander waded in, and picked up a piece of coal from under the tree. "Do you want to come stay at my place?"
Giles' eyes widened, and he ducked his head, though Xander hadn't meant that, he'd just meant... okay, yeah, he'd meant that. "No, I... I'll be fine. Kallikantzaroi are pranksters, but they aren't truly malevolent. Perhaps, perhaps you should... go home."
Go home. Evening over. "Wait. How about I... I could help. Tidy."
Giles looked around, wearily. "I'll deal with this in the morning. Thank you, Xander, for the lift."
Xander watched helplessly as Giles turned and climbed the stairs to his loft. So much for making the most of his evening to regret.
A crash, and Giles was racing down the stairs. "Your place it is."
"Huh?"
No answer, just a vice-grip on Xander's arm, and he was being dragged out the door. Back to his place.
Well. All right then. Merry Christmas after all.
= = =
Joolz wanted: kissing, Giles' glasses being askew and a Christmas Fairy(which can be interpreted however you wish)
But did not want: angst, character bashing/death
by Dr Squidlove
drsquidlove@virginqueen.com
No archiving, thanks.
A Drunken Giles needs an escort home from the Scooby Christmas gathering. Xander's it.
A Giles Drunkathon entry for joolzmp7. Request at the end.
Rated... PG-13. Some lustiness.
Set at Christmas of Season Five. So, post-Riley, in a universe where Anya's already wandered off for some reason or another.
Wordcount: 2210
All my blings belongs to Joss.
Um, first Joolz, huge apologies for the lateness. This was hard. And (okay, mostly) I was disorganised. I was hoping to do something more creative but... I just couldn't do it without more plot. But it's G/X, so not all bad!
Kallikantzaroi
"Are you certain you'll be all right, Rupert?"
Mrs Summers looked shocked and the girls just looked faintly embarrassed. In all their chatter, none of them had really noticed how much Giles was drinking in his corner. Neither, by the mortified looks of him, had Giles.
Xander had noticed, but... Well, their relationship had progressed a fair way past "Hey, watch out for that demon behind you," but he didn't know if it had reached "Hey, watch out for that quart of whiskey you've belted back in front of your Slayer's mother."
Though now, seeing the way Giles had lurched out of his chair, barely saving himself from going straight over on his face, bringing the scooby team to a very loud silence... Maybe Xander should have braved the wrath potential and waded a little further into the guy-trust zone.
Giles rubbed his forehead. "I'm, I'm afraid, I'm not sure I should drive."
"I'll say."
As one, everyone in the room turned a glare on Buffy. Except probably Tara, who didn't seem capable of glaring at anyone, but Willow pretty much had it covered for the pair of them.
"I'll fetch some blankets." Mrs Summers stood, but Giles waved her down.
"Perhaps Xander..."
Why not. Christmas drunks were Xander's Christmas tradition. "Yeah, I'll drive you home."
Giles thanked him with a nod... half a nod... sort of half a glance, really. And then his path to Mrs Summers was decidedly winding. "Thank you for dinner, Joyce. Sorry I..."
She smiled and clasped his hands. "It was my pleasure. And if it wasn't for these pills I'm on, I would have drunk you under the table. Are you sure you won't come back tomorrow?"
"Christmas is for family."
"You are family."
"Thank you." He managed to say it so it sounded like a very firm 'no'. "It's good to see you looking well."
There were goodbyes and thank yous for dinner and merry christmases all-round, dragged out as they all inched slowly towards the door and spilled out onto the chilly front porch.
"Thank you again for the, err, colander," Mrs Summers said, casting a sceptical eye at the bit of kitchenware hanging over the door.
"Yup," agreed Buffy. "Always good to keep a house safe from killa... kalli... Christmas goblins."
"Kallikantzaroi." He couldn't walk straight but he could spit out demon names that none of the rest of them could manage sober.
"Yes. Thank you."
They kept on swapping last-minute thoughts and warm wishes like they weren't going to see each other for months, dragging on as Giles slipped through increasingly powerful shades of green, until Xander started to worry if he'd make it home.
"I'm pulling the cord," he announced. "Me and Giles are gone. Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night."
He bowed, and set off for the car, walking slowly enough to not embarrass Giles too much more, and opened the door for him. And yes, he did get the romantic implications of opening a car door for someone, and no, he definitely didn't get a tingle all over his skin as he did it. Xander had a very powerful filter in place, whenever it came to Giles.
Once Giles was safely seated he circled around, waved to the women, and climbed in. "You're not going to barf in my car, are you?"
"No," said Giles, but the way he was staying very still with his eyes closed and his fists bunched on his thighs said differently.
He'd looked good tonight. Before the queasiness. They'd all dressed up a bit for their Christmas Eve dinner, and Giles was wearing a jacket and tie. The nice sort he'd discovered this year, not the tweedy kind of old. Even drunk, he still looked good.
Xander sighed, and stuck the key in the ignition. "Just warn me if I need to pull over, all right? And wind down your window; it'll help."
* * *
They made it to his house without incident. Giles even looked a little better, thanks to the fresh air, and he now had attractively windswept hair to go with the attractive jacket and tie.
God. Xander was a goner. He was usually way better at keeping his feelings (feeling, singular: lust, if he was going to be honest) in check. Guess this was that Christmas sentimentality that people who didn't live in Xander's house talked about.
There was no sarcastic reply, which said more about Giles' state than the very careful steps. Giles just lifted his gaze skywards. "I'm a pillock."
"You know, I never figured out exactly what that means."
The glare came slowly, but it settled hard.
"But, yeah. You kinda were one, tonight."
He turned away, rubbing his face. "I've humilated myself."
"Um. Yeah. But it was probably just your turn."
Giles looked at him startled, and then he smiled, and then he started to shake. Laughing. Thank god. And look at the way his face lined as he laughed.
No, don't look. That way lies madness.
Giles managed to climb out of the car on his own, but Xander wasn't taking any chances. Door-to-door delivery. He went around to join him. "We're gonna take the stairs slow, okay?"
Xander wasn't sure Giles was capable of the stairs, but he wasn't about to be wrapping an arm around him just yet.
"'M'fine." Giles waved an arm at Xander as his other hand felt around for the rail.
"That's it. Rail is good."
Two steps and Giles pitched forward.
"Giles!"
Xander leapt down, too late to grab him so he shoved him into the wall to save him from tumbling all the way into the courtyard.
They stood frozen for a really long moment, a moment long enough for Xander to take stock of every place their bodies touched. Hand on Giles' shoulder. Arm pinning his chest. Giles' hand braced flat to Xander's chest. Their thighs, knee almost to groin.
Giles was breathing fast, charged with adrenaline. His glasses were crooked, his eyes wide, mouth open. Xander was breathing fast for a very different reason, and finding it very difficult to step back. He really wanted to straighten Giles' glasses. Would it be weird, if he lifted his hand, rested a finger on the wire rim and slid them back in place?
Was it weird that he was still standing here, pressed against him, staring into his eyes?
Giles lifted a finger to his lips. "Ssshhhhhhhhhh!" And then he smiled again, like he'd just told a really funny joke.
Right. Time for that arm-wrapping thing. Xander peeled himself off and slid an arm around Giles' waist. Giles had a really nicely shaped waist. Xander swallowed. "One step at a time, okay?"
"I'm quite drunk."
"Yes, you are."
"You're taking care of me."
"Yes, I am."
One step, one step, one step. Their legs together. Giles' body in his arm, joined to his side. One step, one step.
They reached the bottom and Xander sighed in relief. Out of danger. Xander savoured his armful of Giles for a split second more, and then loosened his grip, but didn't let go completely. Just let his hand slide down to the small of Giles' back. Had to keep him steady. "Got your keys?"
"I don't want to go home."
"We're kinda there already."
Giles grabbed his arm. "Let's go somewhere else."
"We need to get you to bed."
Giles shook his head, looking very, very serious. "There's nobody there."
"I know." Xander wasn't sure what he was supposed to say, so he just said, "Keys?"
"No."
"Fine. Just don't go all British on me tomorrow."
Who was he kidding? What had already happened tonight was already a few hundred miles past where Giles would ever be able to face him again. Xander patting down his pockets until he found the tell-tale jingle couldn't possibly make this worse in the morning. All the more reason to enjoy it now, he supposed.
Giles honest-to-god giggled as Xander stuffed a hand in his pocket. Giggled. If he remembered any of this in the morning, Giles was going to move back to England. Xander brightened at the possibility that Giles might not remember.
They got as far as the door, and Xander propped Giles against the wall to lean down and try to find the keyhole in the dim light, and Xander felt... was that a hand on his ass?
He jerked up, and found Giles looking airily off in no particular direction. Whoa. He really had groped Xander's ass.
Now, Xander was adaptable. He'd adapted to levels of weird that few mortals would ever face. But Giles had just groped his ass, and however much Xander had imagined such things in his his wilder fantasies, the reality was... way too weird.
This would be one of those avoidance things. So Xander bent back to the lock and yelped at the absolutely-no-question-now grope and opened his mouth to give Giles a damn good talking-to and found himself pressed against the door, being kissed like nobody's business.
Like, whiskey-flavoured deep exploration with real ass-groping hands action. And that was so totally a whole new dimension of weird that it took Xander a good few moments to work his brain from his kneaded ass forward to whoa, that was an erection Giles was trying to stick in Xander's pocket.
Probably, this was supposed to be the moment where Xander shoved Giles off him and acted all shocked and swore he couldn't take advantage and dragged Giles inside to sleep himself sober.
But Giles was kissing him, so no way in hell was that going to happen. Xander wrapped his arms around him and dragged him closer and kissed him back like this was a once-in-a-lifetime offer, working every knee-trembling trick he knew, sinking his fingers into Giles' hair and back, possibly verging on desperate. Giles didn't stop.
In fact, Giles kept on kissing every bit as well as Xander had ever imagined, sexy and dirty and unrestrained. Grinding against him. Fingers slipped under Xander's shirt, followed by a hand, sweeping up his spine and back down to rub the small of his back, and already this was hotter than any sex Xander had ever had.
Xander really, really wanted this to lead to sex.
Okay, Giles was drunk. And ethically, possibly, this could fall under the class of 'taking advantage.' But, on the other hand, Xander was nineteen, and Giles was forty-a-lot, and some might call that taking advantage, so you could say it kind of evened out. Maybe.
"Giles." More kissing. "Giles."
Giles nibbled down Xander's neck.
"Giles, please don't think I want this to stop, but are you sure you... I mean, you're not... oh, screw it." Xander was gonna go with it. "How about we just move this inside?"
A teasing finger dragged under the waist of Xander's jeans. "Let 'em watch."
Dear god, that was a really hot idea, but a bad one. "That'd be, um, great for the neighbours, but, oh god don't stop, vampires, remember? Demons? Supernatural, ah!, beasties? We can do this inside. We can do more inside."
"All right then." Quick as that Xander was free, but as soon as he turned the key in the lock he was pushed in by about a dozen roaming hands, all trying to work off his clothes.
"Oh, dear lord."
They came to a sudden, sober halt.
The apartment had been ransacked. Every book off the shelves, everything Giles owned strewn around the room, and in the middle, under Giles' half-assed little Christmas tree, was a big pile of coal.
Oh no. No, no, no, no. No way were they going to get the kissing back, now. Xander spun to face Giles. "It's not so bad."
The look Giles turned on him was scathing, and not at all lusty or drunk. Right. The kissing was over.
Giles pulled off his glasses and pressed his palms to his eyes, rubbing like a little kid. "I forgot my colander."
Xander blinked. Colander? "The calico-roy demon?"
"Kallikantzaroi."
Xander stared around the room. "This is what it does?"
"Yes."
"Is there a spell to get rid of it?"
"I could tell you, but that would require that I find a book."
"Right." No books were going to be found any time soon. Xander waded in, and picked up a piece of coal from under the tree. "Do you want to come stay at my place?"
Giles' eyes widened, and he ducked his head, though Xander hadn't meant that, he'd just meant... okay, yeah, he'd meant that. "No, I... I'll be fine. Kallikantzaroi are pranksters, but they aren't truly malevolent. Perhaps, perhaps you should... go home."
Go home. Evening over. "Wait. How about I... I could help. Tidy."
Giles looked around, wearily. "I'll deal with this in the morning. Thank you, Xander, for the lift."
Xander watched helplessly as Giles turned and climbed the stairs to his loft. So much for making the most of his evening to regret.
A crash, and Giles was racing down the stairs. "Your place it is."
"Huh?"
No answer, just a vice-grip on Xander's arm, and he was being dragged out the door. Back to his place.
Well. All right then. Merry Christmas after all.
= = =
Joolz wanted: kissing, Giles' glasses being askew and a Christmas Fairy(which can be interpreted however you wish)
But did not want: angst, character bashing/death