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I've finished the Buffy Beaten commission for now. If the commissioner would please get in touch with me, we'll see about continuing
🕑 Added 2019-09-07 17:00:03 +0000 UTCA closed file folder tucked under his arm, Giles walked the width and breadth of the library, making one last unhurried examination of the books in his care. While he didn’t fanatically examine the call numbers, the years had brought him an unerring sense of when a book was out of place and where it belonged. The task paled in comparison to his duty as Watcher, of course, but he still nursed a deep affection for reading in all its forms, considering it a personal prerogative to see that each book was in its proper place, resting comfortably. Satisfied—and for a moment luxuriating in the thought of a world where he had no greater cares than seeing to it that texts weren’t dog-eared—Giles dropped the sealed folder with the day’s completed paperwork into the proper receptacle, knowing it would soon be picked up and ferried off through the proper channels.
He turned and was startled by the nearness of Ampata, the shock of her appearance translating quickly into an appreciation of how nice she looked with the lights dimmed, the hustle and bustle of the school similarly snuffed out. She was a woman made for romantic evenings.
“Oh, Ampata, you startled me.”
Ampata smiled bashfully, as if amused by the thought that anyone could be frightened of her. “Sorry.”
“No need to apologize. It’s on me. I’m used to being alone when this place closes up.”
Ampata giggled. “That’s a shame. You’re very good company.”
Giles felt his cheeks heat up. He’d worried some about Ampata being a detriment, both to his official job of librarian and to his secret work as Watcher, but Ampata had been refreshingly obedient and eager to please. She’d asked no questions about this California high school’s extensive collection of texts on demonology and witchcraft, and the only thing she’d said when Giles disappeared into his office to pore through those diabolical texts was to ask whether she could bring him any coffee. All in all, an inessential but hardly unbecoming addition to the workplace. Giles had lived with far worse.
“If I can… there’s an English word… to, ah, to burden someone with helping you?”
“To impose?” Giles asked. “Would I believe be the polite term…”
“Yes, impose, yes. If I can impose on you some more… I didn’t come here quite knowing how to find the school, I just had to search for it, and now I don’t know my way back really, and I need to set up transportation regularly, but for now, do you think that I could ride you back to my apartment?”
“Ride… ride me?” Giles repeated.
“Yes—is that not right?”
“It’s… it’s phrased slightly awkwardly. I think the preferred term would be to give you a ride.”
“Ah. Yes.” Ampata beamed at him. “Can you give me a ride?”
Giles offered his arm. “Why not?”
