#Willow-Giles

[icymoonlight]

Part 7 of The Slayer's Anchor

The Latin Passage

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The Slayer's Anchor - Icymoonlight - Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV) [Archive of Our Own]

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The Latin Passage - Icymoonlight - Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV) [Archive of Our Own]

Author's note: Please, do leave a comment and a Kudos if you like!

Summary:

On a chilly evening, Willow and Giles found themselves waiting for Buffy's return from patrol. As they waited, Willow stumbled upon an intriguing article about teenagers acting like vampires at night, but waking up as normal humans with no recollection of their escapades. Curious, Giles leaned in to read over Willow's shoulder, and together they delved deeper into the article. As they reached a passage in Latin, Willow faltered, but Giles smoothly took over and read it aloud. His voice was so alluringly soothing that Willow found herself lost in it, and the scent of his cologne added to the captivating atmosphere.

Notes:

Definitely entering uncharted waters here. I love reading Age-Gap romances, yet the moment I get into the writing one, something shifts, and I make it tragically impossible! Looks like I have a thing for dramatic unrequested crushes! lol Please, tell me what you think!

(See the end of the work for more notes.)

Work Text:

 Willow sat at the round table, eagerly flicking through articles on her computer about supernatural behaviour. Buffy had been slaying all evening, and as Giles waited with her for Buffy's return, they stumbled upon an interesting piece. The article focused on teenagers who behave like vampires, feeding on others' blood at night, only to wake up as normal humans the next morning with no memory of their misdeeds. Giles read over Willow's shoulder, peppering her with questions and thoughts until they reached a passage in Latin. Willow blanched at the sight of the complicated script and stumbled over the words as she tried to read it aloud.

  Giles took the lead, immediately leaning closer to Willow, his breath tickling her earlobe as he started to read the Latin passage. His soothing, modulated voice sent shivers down Willow's spine as she listened intently. She lost herself in his words, as his soothing voice danced elegantly on each foreign syllable. After, he completed the ancient text; he went on reading the English translation for her.

  The article described a story from an old book long hidden by the church.  It talked about an ancient curse.

...It originated from an incantation crafted by a priest to reveal vampires without the touch of sunlight. But, his days were numbered. One of his enemies turned the poor priest into a vampire and made him work to deceive the church. However, when he tried to chant his own spell, it had a disastrous effect.   Without a soul, the magician priest could not perform light magic, it instantly turned dark witchcraft. The spell affected the young son of a noble. The poor boy had to be executed because of his disturbing actions, despite not being a real vampire; the evidence of his “evil soul” was evident. The article concluded that the spell was occasionally used during holly wars to confuse the enemy. Later, it was used by some satanistic groups to make people feel the injustice brought upon Vampires. So much went wrong because of the curse, and the parchment was finally buried in a sealed crypt, which was recently been excavated...

  Willow was lost in the moment, while picturing the events of the story unfolding before her mind’s eye, in intricate details. Noticing that she enjoyed his reading, Giles obliged. He continued reading the article with his velvety voice. She noticed then, for the first time, how intoxicating the scent of his cologne was, as if it contained all the secrecy and intrigue he hid behind his voice. The table creaked, as Giles leaned in on it, to relieve his back. Training with Buffy showed him just how old he has gotten.

  Eyes closed, Willow inclined her head to the side, allowing him access to her flesh. When he noticed, the sight of her dreamy expression took him by surprise. It has been way too long since a member of the other sex took notice of him or showed him any interest, yet Willow’s surrendering body language affected him more than it should, more than any propriety allowed. “This is a dangerous game to play, Giles” he thought in distress, reminding himself of his position. He inhaled sharply and turned the other way, as he stood up, cursing himself for his lack of sensibility. He was too close for comfort. He was never a man to take advantage of a woman, particularly not underage girls, he thought bitterly. So how did he got there?

  A little gasp told him that she just noticed what she had done. “Play it cool Giles, she is young, and it was partly your fault. So, man up and act casual,” he ordered himself. “I...I ... am sorry.” She said in a barely audible whisper.

  He felt bad for her, “Huh? What was that?” He said feigning innocence.

“Emm... I...I must have... fallen asleep!” she lied, with her sweet stutter.  Her scared eyes betrayed her anguish and youthful innocence.

  He flashed her a reassuring smile “Ah, it... its ok! It is very late. I wonder if we should go look for Buffy?” he said nonchalantly, as he nervously massaged the back of his neck. He didn’t want to make her uncomfortable, although, he realised it was too late for that.

  She nodded vehemently, and he was reminded of her age. “Goodness, what was he thinking?” He should be more careful around girls her age. He most certainly doesn’t want to hurt her. He stopped for a moment to think about his own relationship with Buffy. She doesn’t look to have any unwanted crushes on him, but one can never be too careful. A discrete sigh escaped his lips as he passed a sweaty hand over his face. “What is wrong with me, tonight?” he thought, exhausted. “Nobody has a crush on you old man, get a grip!”. He scolded himself as exasperation at himself grew louder in his head.

 A distant sound of heals tick-tocking in the corridor announced that someone was approaching, and he thanked the heavens for the distraction. Buffy walked into the room tired from the night’s exercise.

  Giles and Willow startled at Buffy's arrival, sharply returning to the present moment and their surroundings after being lost in their own world. Listening to Buffy’s comedic recounting of her annoyingly wet night, fighting un-dead slobs in the pouring rain, was like a cold bucket of water for Giles, the only one he must focus on is his ward, his slayer. He shouldn’t allow himself any distractions. Moreover, they were both children. “She is a child Giles” he chastised himself. “For god’s sake, he needs to go out sometimes. This self-imposed celibacy is starting to affect his judgement.” Tomorrow, he promised himself.

  Buffy yawned theatrically, and they all laughed. It was time to go home.  In their distraction, neither Giles nor Willow told Buffy about the strange phenomenon that they had discovered, earlier. They all needed a night’s rest; They could discuss paranormal occurrences the next day.

  Giles and Willow didn’t look at each other the entire time he drove the girls home. However, deep down inside, Willow knew she now had a secret she would never tell her best friend, for fear of shattering their friendship. She vowed to forget the newfound affection she had discovered for Giles. It’s just a crush; she reasoned with her bruised heart, it’ll pass. Hopefully, he didn’t notice anything. “Oh! Please god, don’t let him notice anything!” she prayed, before going to bed.

  What would her friends say about her? She couldn't bear to be chased out of the library, away from books and computers... away from him. A single tear rolled down her rosy cheek. "Why does she always fall for men who don't see her as a woman? Technically she is not a woman yet.. so... so perhaps she won't be all alone her entire life." She tried to cheer herself up. "It's just, it is so difficult to get over a  person when they are all you ever dream about. A chuckle escaped her lips. "So, Giles is my type! Wait till Buffy hears that." She was excited for a while before, she remembered. "Oh"! her mood fell immediately,  It’s a secret she cannot even share with her best friend.

  That's another reason, why it is impossible for her to have any kind of relationship with an adult, for now. She is not Buffy. Buffy is allowed to date centuries-old vampires if she likes, But not her. Shy Willow can't afford to like the ones she likes. She can only hide the broken pieces of her hopeless crushes in a drawer inside her heart. It's not like anybody will look there, any time soon. With these depressing thoughts, Willow hugged the sheets tighter around herself and cried herself to sleep. If her own parents left her on her own, for the good part of the year, she cannot expect any better from strangers. "I hate you, Giles!" She sobs his name over her pillow. 

Notes:

Is it wrong to have two ships of different pairings in one fandom? cauz, I can't decide between Buffy/Giles or Willow/Giles. Also, I have great respect for all religions. and this is a work of fiction, so any references to religions here are just for fictional purposes. I don't own Buffy universe of course, I wish! Comment and review folks!

Please heck the previous works in the series on AO3:

I would appreciate your support!

[randomscreensjots]

This episode was gold

[douglasbradburyverne]

Buffy the Vampire Slayers (1997 to 2003), Behind the Scenes photos

[dailybtvs]

Buffy the Vampire Slayer 5.08 — "Shadow"

[paperpuzzles]

If Buffy the Vampire Slayer was made now

Tinder episode where Buffy meets up with a guy from a dating app and he turns out to be a literal monster

Dawn and Spike swindling various demons to get money for Eras Tour tickets

Bisexual Xander

Lesbian Faith

420 episode where the scoobies think Giles is under some kind of spell but turns out he just accidentally ate Spike’s edibles

SUPERNATURAL CROSSOVER EPISODE

Endless “slay” jokes

Willow in a constant online battle with internet trolls that are actual trolls

Buffy and Faith being in love and secretly hooking up throughout season 3

Riley becoming a podcast bro

Festival episode where the scoobies go to Coachella and Ethan Rayne (disguised as a hippie) is up to some new magical fuckery

An influencer is chosen to be a slayer after Faith briefly dies and tries to be an “influenslayer”

Feel free to add more ⬇️

[whatisyourchildhoodtrauma]

BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER | 1.12 “Prophecy Girl”

(original text post)

[tubesock86]

the scoobies (plus faith and spike)

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a death wish

[irate-iguana]

Posts that would be found on the Sunnydale High meme account, in roughly chronological order:

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buffy rewatch -> Teacher's Pet (1.04)

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[stronglikeayellowcrayon]

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[phantomstatistician]

Fandom: Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Character: Buffy Summers

Sample Size: 14,801 stories

Source: AO3

[dailybtvs]

Buffy the Vampire Slayer | 2.01 — "When She Was Bad"

[brutal4you]

btvs text posts

[whatisyourchildhoodtrauma]

BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER | 6.06 | 2.06 | 4.04

Buffy: "Right, exactly, so I should patrol to avoid any of that-- (Giles shoves an item in her hand) and I'm bagging."