#and also other people will likely not have been digging through the wh ao3 page(s) as rabidly as i

[carnivalcarriondiscarded]

Oh! Oh! Can we by any chance, recommend some WH fanfics to you?

technically yes! but im saying it now, ive gone through ao3's WH section with a fiiiiiine toothed comb & have been watching it like a Hawk, so i have probably seen any recs i may receive

[pocket-full-of-wonder]

Title: Rest  Summary: Sometimes you just need a break. 

(Queerplatonic KageHina, soft kiddos, cuddling, future fic, living together, late-night comfort and warmth)

Read on AO3

Tobio doesn’t know what woke him up. Or when he fell asleep.

He sits up straight, ignoring the awful crick in his neck. There’s a piece of paper stuck to the side of his face, damp and crinkled with sweat, and even the dim light of desk lamp is enough to make his eyes water. Drawn curtains shield a dark, cloudy outside.

Tobio blinks out into space until his eyes adjust. His textbooks are spread on the desk in front of him, along with a plethora of scattered pages and pencils and highlighters. Stifling a yawn, he reaches for his phone and checks the time. Before he gets the chance, he’s distracted by a message just below it.

[Dumbass ❤] [Yesterday - 11:31pm] gonna be home late again, sorry you dont have to wait up for me, i have my key

The digital clock reads 1:04am.

Tobio bites the inside of his cheek, hard. Shouyou’s been working godforsaken hours lately and always comes home exhausted; Tobio always does his best to be up when he gets home, so they can eat dinner together or doze on the couch watching a movie. He hadn’t meant to fall asleep.

He leans back in the chair, more awake now, and sends a response.

[Kageyama Tobio] [1:05am] Are you still at work? How late are they keeping you?

He keeps refreshing the screen, trying not to worry. His foot taps at the carpet anyway.

[Dumbass ❤] [1:06am] jyst got home. on the cough couch m gonna go to sleep

Tobio swings himself to his feet, flicks off the desk lamp and shuffles from the bedroom, down the hall, and into the living room.

Their apartment is a small one, fit to accommodate a single person, but it’s never given them any issues. A good portion of the furnishings came from their Karasuno team, who were so ecstatic for them that they went against their wishes and bought them a whole amalgamation of furniture and supplies. They even helped paint the fixer-upper.

The hall light is on. Shouyou’s shoes are tossed by the genkan, but it seems more or less like he flung them there as an afterthought. His bag, employee visor and set of keys are on the coffee table, also thrown haphazardly, and Shouyou has wrapped himself into a fetal position on the couch, still in his coffee shop uniform, with a blanket half-drawn over his legs like he’d given up midway.

Quiet as he tried, Shouyou must have heard his footsteps, because he stirs. “Tobio?”

“Yeah.” Tobio keeps his voice low. “Sorry, I didn’t hear you come in.”

“S’okay,” Shouyou murmurs without opening his eyes. “Good to see you…”

Tobio smiles—something he hadn’t done a lot of before he met Shouyou—and settles on the couch by Shouyou’s head, careful not to jostle him. Shouyou responds by rolling over and digging his forehead into Tobio’s thigh.

“Long day?”

Shouyou nods. “Customer service sucks.”

“Yeah. I don’t know how you do it, honestly.” He used to hesitate when touching Shouyou, but now he runs a hand through his hair and it’s the easiest thing in the world. “I grabbed takeout earlier, I could reheat some for you if you want.”

“No, s’okay. I’d probably fall asleep in it. Thank you.” Tobio hums softly. “How’ws your day?”

“Pretty alright. Dropped a plate. Chef was pissed, you should’ve seen him, he had smoke coming out of his ears.”

Shouyou giggles, and it’s enough to make Tobio smile again. “But he didn’t fire you?”

“Nah. He apologized later, actually. It was pretty stressful in the kitchen today. One of the chefs was off their game, kept making the sauces wrong. I’m glad I’m just a dishwasher because the waiting staff was pretty stressed.”

“Oh nooo.”

“Yeah. It’s alright, though, everyone’s alright. We made it through the day without a lot of hassle. Tomorrow’ll be better.”

“That’s good.”

“Mm.” Tobio keeps stroking his hair. “How about your day?”

Shouyou makes a small noise of discomfort and burrows closer. “It was… it sucked a lot, not gonna lie. No one seemed like they knew what was going on, there was a new trainee so I was helping him, the manager never showed up, so Tamiko tried taking over but he didn’t know what he was doing a-and…” He stops himself there, curling his fists into the couch and sighing hard. “I’m just. G-Glad it’s over.”

“God, yeah, that sounds shitty.”

“It was.”

“Are you going in tomorrow?”

Shouyou shakes his head, the movement small but sure. “I… I can’t. M’not feeling well. I have a lot of sick days I didn’t use s-so… it—it’ll be okay.”

He says it like he’s trying to convince himself, or justify it in his head. Admittedly, Tobio is surprised, because there have been times when he’s had to physically keep Shouyou from going into work when he was sick or overworked. This is a huge step for him, taking care of himself, but it’s also an uncertain step for him judging by the tone of his voice. And Tobio can hear it; the unasked question that he’s desperate for an answer to. Shouyou doesn’t need to ask it for Tobio to know.

“Good, yeah, stay home,” Tobio says, nodding. He settles his arm around Shouyou’s shoulders and pulls him closer into his side. “If you don’t take time for yourself now, you’re gonna have to take twice as much time to recover later. It’ll be fine, don’t worry.”

Shouyou nods, curling closer. “Yeah. Thanks.”

Tobio hums, Shouyou goes quiet, and Tobio takes this time to properly examine Shouyou’s features. It’s tricky in the dim lighting, but those dark circles around his eyes aren’t hard to miss. He looks simultaneously older and younger than he is. His hair has the knots and disarray of someone who’s been wearing a hat all day, and he still smells like coffee and plastic, so chances are he hadn’t showered when he came in. And he’s still in his uniform, too, sleeves bunched at the elbows and collar buttons undone. He’s still got his nametag on, actually, which Tobio removes carefully and sets on the coffee table.

Their work schedules are simple ones: Tobio’s shift down at the American-style grill ends around three in the afternoon (it only serves lunch); Shouyou’s usual shift ends somewhere around nine o’clock at night. It’s as simple as that.

But it’s past 1am now. For the third time this week—and probably the tenth time this month.

Tobio lets his hand drift from his hair to his shoulder and tries not to sigh. “You need to stop covering for your coworkers so much, Shou.”

“S’not always laziness,” Shouyou murmurs, a little disheveled now. He’s always so resolute about this, every time they have this conversation. It’s in his heart to be kind and helpful, to the point where sometimes it takes a long time for him to realize he’s being used. But that’s okay; Tobio can help with that. “S-Sometimes they just can’t make it…”

“If they can’t make it, then they can’t make it,” Tobio responds, letting his thumb swipe Shouyou’s hair off his temple. He feels a bit warmer than he should. “But if you keep coming in early and staying up late for them, they’re never going to learn. They’ll just use you as a doormat.”

Shouyou doesn’t reply, which usually means he can’t argue. Tobio sighs and squeezes his shoulder.

“I know you don’t like feeling like you’re letting anyone down,” he says, “but they aren’t your responsibility. Besides, they’re the ones letting you down in this situation. Don’t cover for them anymore, ‘kay?”

“Wh-What if they hate me? What if they really, really need help one day, and—”

“This isn’t a ‘one day’ thing, Shou. And if you think they genuinely need help, then you can make that call. I’ll help you. But you can’t keep doing this, you’re just hurting yourself.”

“B-But, I—”

“Look at yourself. You’re exhausted, Shouyou, you’ve been exhausted all month and it isn’t healthy. If your coworkers really hate you for not doing their job for them, they’ve got another thing coming. It’ll be okay.”

Shouyou takes his time thinking about it. Tobio has never been exactly patient, but he can be patient with Shouyou. Especially when he’s this out of it.

“... You’re right. I-I’ll try not to.”

Chances are it isn’t as easy as that, but Tobio will take it. “Good.”

Shouyou falls silent again, and Tobio gets more comfortable on the couch, leaning into the arm of it and maneuvering Shouyou until his head is settled on his chest and they can put their arms around each other. Shouyou’s breath stutters on the way in and out, and his heartbeat is just a little faster than normal. His weight is warm and familiar but limp and still. ‘Still’ should never describe Shouyou.

Tobio tugs him closer and draws a deep breath. He really is exhausted, huh…

“Hey,” Tobio murmurs into his hair. “You still with me?”

“Mmnn.”

“We should go to bed.”

“Mmmnnn.” A pause, so long that Tobio thinks he might’ve just up and fallen asleep. “H… Have you studied for the English exam…?”

“Not yet.” Tobio smooths back his hair. “We can work on it tomorrow.”

“I was gonna do some of it tonight…”

“You’ll be able to focus better after you’ve slept, it’s alright. Come on.”

Tobio doesn’t try to make him walk. He swings his legs off the couch, settles one arm under Shouyou’s knees and the other around his shoulders, and gets to his feet. Shouyou makes a small, almost confused sound, but is too exhausted to do much else. He tucks his head under Tobio’s chin and Tobio holds him close.

The bedroom is barely a five second walk from the living room on a normal day, but it takes about three times as long this time, with Tobio moving slowly to avoid jostling Shouyou. Shouyou had been fairly dead to the world before, but now he’s even more so, teetering on the edge of sleep, bundled and warm and safe in Tobio’s arms, like all is well with the world.

And, Tobio is glad that he feels this safe with him, that he trusts him this much. Shouyou draws in stress as easily as people draw in air; seeing those lines on his face finally smooth out settles the leftover worry in Tobio’s chest.

Shouyou is pretty much asleep by the time Tobio crosses from the hall into the bedroom, and he makes the executive decision not to nag Shouyou about getting out of his work clothes and into something more comfortable. He seems comfortable enough already, and waking him up risks him not being able to fall asleep again. They can wash the sheets tomorrow, anyway, it doesn’t matter.

Tobio lets him down gently, and snorts when Shouyou’s fingers twist into the collar of his shirt. “I’m gonna drop you if you don’t let me go, dumbass,” he murmurs without bite. ‘Dumbass’ has become some sort of weird… term of endearment. He doesn’t know how else to describe it, but there’s no malice behind it. There never was.

Shouyou murmurs under his breath, incoherent, and Tobio rolls his eyes and pries his fingers off carefully.

“I’m coming back,” Tobio huffs, tossing the blankets over him, “I just need to turn out the lights. Gimme a sec.”

Shouyou blinks up at him slowly and dazedly, and Tobio takes a moment to press their foreheads together before heading into the living room.

‘Turning off the lights’ ends up being more than just that. He starts with locking the deadbolt, which Shouyou forgot to do on his way in (it’s a habit of his, which is why Tobio picked up the habit of checking all the doors before bed), and then he makes sure he really did put the takeout in the fridge because it’d be sad to wake up and realize he’d left it out all night (which is his bad habit that Shouyou usually balances out). He finds Shouyou’s phone on the coffee table, unlocks it (his and Tobio’s passwords are the same; the day they went to the Spring Tournament) and silences all Shouyou’s morning alarms.

The earliest one is set for 3:15am.

Tobio sighs heavily, powers down the device, and then he finally turns out the lights and returns to the bedroom.

Shouyou is completely out now, his breaths a gentle lull in the otherwise quiet room. Tobio enters as silently as he can, draping his jacket over the desk chair before settling in beside his best friend. They don’t have a name for what their relationship is yet, but they’ve never needed one. With or without a definition, they know what they have. And what they have is uniquely theirs and so, so precious.

When he’s sure Shouyou is soundly asleep, he envelops him in his arms and pulls him close, ignoring the scent of old coffee and instead relishing in his familiar warmth. Like clockwork, Shouyou’s arms immediately come to wind around Tobio’s waist and he snuggles closer, and Tobio doesn’t know what he did to deserve this. To deserve him.

“T’bi...?”

“Shh. Sorry. I’m back.” He detangles some of the knots in Shouyou’s wild hair and smooths it back gently. “Go back to sleep.”

“Mm.” Shouyou breathes a long sigh of relief, letting his head rest fully against Tobio’s chest. “M’l’v y…”

Tobio snorts, holding him closer. “I love you, too, stupid,” he whispers. It feels like a promise, and his heart is so warm. “Get some rest.”

Shouyou makes a small, incoherent muffle of agreement, and Tobio shuts his eyes and lets the warmth and calm and peace wash over him.

He doesn’t know what to call this special thing of his and Shouyou’s, but he doesn’t need to know. Shouyou’s never cared, and neither has he. All that matters is what they do know, and that is that they have each other, they love each other, and they wouldn’t trade it for the world.

[theajaheira]

very really married (8/?)

read it on ao3!

return of the s1-rewrite fake-married giles/jenny fic!!! i am feeling extremely good about myself right now.

also there’s a lot of giles and jenny being Very Soft in this chapter, which i will justify by saying that canon had them making out all over school property. so this is definitely not too much of a stretch

“You’re kidding, right?” said Buffy. “You want to know if my Slayer sense is picking up on anything spooky about Ms. Calendar? As in your wife who sometimes brings us pizza Ms. Calendar? As in Willow’s favorite teacher Ms. Calendar? As in—”

“—yes, yes, my wife is incredible, I just wanted to check,” said Giles irritably, who was beginning to realize how ill-conceived his idea of asking Buffy’s opinion had been. “There have been a few…oddities…in our relationship as of late—”

“No one needs to hear about your sex life, Giles,” said Buffy, wincing a little. “Frankly, I’ve seen enough of it to know I never want to hear about it.”

“Buffy, I most certainly would not be discussing those portions of my life with you,” said Giles flatly. “Ever.”

“Why? Too busy having sex in a morgue drawer?”

This sort of thing was exactly why Giles would prefer death over telling Buffy about his drunken Vegas marriage. “We weren’t—never mind,” he said, hoping against hope that he didn’t look as flustered as he felt. “My point is that the way Jenny reacted to vampires was rather unusual, and I thought your Slayer sense might be of some use in ascertaining whether—”

“You trust me?” Buffy beamed, flipping her hair over one shoulder. She looked genuinely touched.

Giles sighed. “Quite,” he said.

Buffy rolled her eyes a little. “Then trust me when I say I get no bad vibes from Ms. Calendar,” she said. “The only thing spooky about your wife is that she’s spooky cool.” She giggled at her own bad joke, then added, “And anyway, Giles, I came in here to tell you that I think Xander’s being possessed by something. He’s been hanging with the mean kids, teasing the kids nobody likes, and he’s dressing super weird!”

Giles looked at her for a long second. Then he said with some disbelief, “So your slayer sense tells you that Xander is being possessed?”

“Uh huh!” Buffy nodded impatiently.

“He’s taken to teasing the less fortunate?” Giles began, echoing Buffy’s words.

“He has.”

“And there's been a noticeable change in both clothing and demeanor?”

“Yep,” Buffy agreed.

“And his spare time is spent lounging about with imbeciles,” Giles finished.

“It’s bad, isn’t it?” Buffy asked anxiously.

“It's devastating,” Giles agreed matter-of-factly. “He's turned into a sixteen-year-old boy. Course, you'll have to kill him.”

Buffy glared. “Giles, I’m serious!”

“So am I!” Giles objected, then amended, “Except for the part about killing him.” Off Buffy’s frustrated look, he explained, “Testosterone is a great equalizer. It turns all men into morons. He will, however, get over it.”

“I cannot believe that you, of all people, are trying to Scully me!” Buffy began.

“Who’s trying to Scully who?” came Jenny’s voice, and Giles winced. “Oh, Rupert. That makes sense.”

To Giles’s absolute horror, Buffy turned to Jenny, gave her an assessing look, and said, “Ms. Calendar, you know stuff about weird stuff going on in Sunnydale, right?”

Jenny blinked, flushing. “Wh-what?”

“You know that this town isn’t exactly what it looks like,” Buffy persisted.

“Buffy, don’t—” Giles began.

But Jenny held up a hand, eyes on Buffy. “What are you getting at?” she said almost warily.

“I think something’s going on with Xander,” said Buffy seriously. “I think he’s in trouble. He’s been acting super weird and I don’t know why—”

“Buffy, boys can be cruel,” Giles cut in, exasperated. “They tease, they prey on the weak. It’s—”

“Don’t boys-will-be-boys this situation,” said Jenny sharply. “Buffy, keep going.”

Buffy, however, had a strange expression on her face. “Wait,” she said. “Giles, what did you say?”

“They…tease?” Giles said tentatively.

“They prey on the weak,” said Buffy slowly. “I’ve heard that before. Where have I—” She stopped, eyes wide, then stared. “Xander has been acting totally wiggy ever since we went to the zoo!” she burst out. “Him and Kyle and all those guys, they went into the hyena cage. Oh, God, that laugh...”

Giles opened his mouth to point out how very unlikely it was that Xander had been turned into a hyena (or perhaps just start giggling), but Jenny was frowning a little. “Buffy, can we talk for a sec?” she asked, sounding a little uneasy. “This might not be a conversation we should—I mean—” Her eyes darted to Giles.

“Whatever you have to say to Buffy can certainly be said in front of me,” said Giles indignantly.

“I don’t know about that,” said Jenny.

“If it’s about the weird supernatural stuff, definitely say it in front of him,” said Buffy pointedly. “I said all this stuff to him and he totally brushed me off!”

“Rupert,” said Jenny reprovingly.

Giles exhaled, frustrated. “Buffy’s evidence is spotty at best!” he persisted. “In most of these ultimately unproven cases—”

Jenny was getting the same look in her eyes that she’d gotten when Giles had inadvertently (and then intentionally) insulted computers. “No,” she said. “You know what? Buffy’s right. This town is weird. Weird stuff happens. And I’m certainly not brushing off a concerned student. Whether or not Buffy’s right about Xander and some other kids being taken over by a hyena, the fact still remains that as a faculty member, it is absolutely my job to take a look at whatever is worrying Buffy.” She fixed Giles with a pointed glare. “And your job too, for that matter.”

“Jenny—” began Giles, helpless.

“Herbert!” Willow announced, running into the library. “They found him.”

“The pig?” said Buffy.

“Dead,” said Willow dismally. “And also eaten. Principal Flutie's freaking out.”

“Testosterone, huh?” said Buffy to Giles.

“Hyena it is,” Jenny agreed. She hesitated, then sighed, crossing the room to Giles. “You’re still a high school faculty member,” she said. “Even if you took this job so you’d have some time to research, you have to take care of these kids.”

There was genuine disappointment in her eyes, and that fact made Giles feel worse than any of her anger and frustration ever had. “You’re right,” he said quietly, because she was. Buffy had come to him with concern for her friend. Even if he was first and foremost a Watcher, he was beginning to become aware that compassion towards his charge was still important. “I’ll—look up hyenas, then?”

“I’m sure I can dig up some articles,” said Jenny, and stood on tiptoe, giving him a soft kiss.

Buffy gagged.

“Can it, Summers, I’m helping you,” said Jenny, a laugh in her voice as she pulled away from Giles. “Okay. I’m going to boot up that library computer and see what I can find about animal possessions. Rupert, you’ll look through your books?”

“You’re taking this claim quite in stride,” said Giles, feeling a strange mixture of suspicious and smitten.

“My husband’s an occult nerd,” teased Jenny. “I pick things up.”

Jenny found an astonishing amount of relevant articles in a very short amount of time. “Part of the job,” she quipped, even though it really wasn’t. Giles, meanwhile, was finding himself rather jealous of the star-struck way Buffy and Willow continued to regard her, especially since her motives were now in question. She was certainly witty, and intelligent, and kind, not to mention stunningly beautiful, but the fact remained that he couldn’t trust someone who had clear knowledge of vampires and wouldn’t tell him anything about them.

Granted, said a rather infuriating voice in his head, you are continuing to do the exact same thing with her.

Stuff it, Giles informed the voice, going back to paging through the book he’d been looking at.

“Anything useful?” Jenny asked earnestly, peering over his shoulder. Seeing the illustrations, she winced. “Yikes. This whole thing doesn’t look at all pretty. And if it’s what’s happening to Xander…”

“…then direct action must be taken, and soon,” Giles finished, glancing over at her. “I’m sure if we figure out exactly how and why this happened, we’ll be able to piece together how to help him and the others.”

“Hopefully before they do something really awful,” Jenny added. “Any kind of soul placed in a body that wasn’t meant to hold it—” She stopped, a strange expression on her face. “Anyway,” she said awkwardly. Bemused, Giles waited, but she didn’t elaborate.

“Why couldn’t Xander be possessed by a puppy, or some ducks?” Willow was saying plaintively.

“That's assuming 'possession' is the right word,” Buffy answered.

“You bet it is,” said Jenny, all but hurrying over to the girls. Giles, still frowning a bit, followed. “The Masai of the Serengeti have talked about animal possession for generations.”

“I should have remembered that,” Giles added ruefully. Jenny gave him a clear yes you should have expression, but still tucked her arm into his.

“So how does it work?” Buffy asked.

“There’s this sect of animal worshipers, Primals,” Jenny began before Giles could start. “They’re pretty much of the mind that human consciousness is this whole unnatural dilution of the spirit, and that the animal state is holy. They came up with this way to draw the spirits of different animals into their own bodies through trans-possession.”

“Succinct,” said Giles, impressed.

“Yeah, Giles takes way longer when he’s briefing us,” said Buffy, then clapped a hand over her mouth, eyes wide.

“Um, on studying things!” Willow added hastily. “In study group! Where we all study together! It’s not like Giles ever talks about the occult with us, ever, at all!”

“Calm down,” said Jenny, amused. “I know more than anyone that Rupert’s almost always working on research for his occult book. It’s not exactly surprising to me that he might bring it up with you kids on occasion.”

“Oh,” said Buffy.

“Occult book,” said Willow.

“That makes sense,” said Buffy.

Giles did his best not to look too worthy of suspicion.

“Anyway,” said Jenny, “the Primals are really only big on the predatory-type animals, so it makes a lot of sense that Xander might have ended up with a hyena spirit in him. My articles talked about that…”

“…and my books gave us a rather graphic depiction of what might happen if that spirit goes unchecked,” Giles finished, handing the book to Buffy and Willow.

Buffy took one look at the book, then set it down, face grim. “I have to find Xander,” she said flatly, then hurried out of the library without waiting for a response.

“Yeah, that’s fair,” said Jenny, squinting at the illustrations. Willow looked a little pale. “Rupert, I think we should start looking into ways to reverse this trans-possession. Something that’ll get the hyena back into the hyena without putting it in anyone else.”

“I don’t know if my books contain that ritual,” said Giles apprehensively.

“I’m sure the web can find something,” Jenny began.

There was a knock on the door, and a small sophomore peered in. “Um, Mr. Giles, Ms. Calendar?” she said uncertainly. “Emergency faculty meeting. Vice principal says all staff have to—”

“Thanks, Emily,” said Jenny, giving Giles a worried look.

Giles quite understood Jenny’s unease. Emergency faculty meetings almost always meant a death. Very deliberately, he took her hand, squeezing it tightly. “I’m right here,” he said quietly. “Remember?”

Reluctantly, Jenny smiled, though the worry hadn’t quite left her eyes. “Yeah,” she said. “Yeah. You are.”

Principal Flutie had been found, completely devoured, in his office.

“Oh,” said Jenny, much too loudly, right after the vice principal delivered this news. Then she got up, shrugged off Giles’s hand, and all but ran outside. The vice principal looked too distressed by the news to object to anyone leaving, so Giles followed, hurrying after her and making sure to shut the door behind him.

Jenny was leaning against a locker, her face in her hands. Her shoulders were shaking.

“Jenny,” said Giles. His heart caught in his chest at how small she looked.

Jenny straightened, looking humiliated, and roughly scrubbed at her face with a sweater sleeve, but she was still shaking too much to stand upright. Without hesitation, Giles crossed the hall, taking her in his arms.

“He’s the reason we got married,” Jenny said, her voice shaky and thick with tears. “Or…” She trailed off, resting her cheek on his shoulder. “He’s the reason we stayed married,” she said. “He’s the reason we’re married right now. It was all about appearances, remember?”

Giles was quiet for a moment. Then he said, “I don’t think it’s…I think this marriage might be something else, now.”

Jenny raised her head. “I don’t like that,” she said. “Make it stop.”

“I—”

“No, okay, maybe not,” Jenny whispered, and buried her face in Giles’s coat, taking a steadying breath in. He felt the way she relaxed in his arms, felt her curl closer, and realized in that moment that he couldn’t at all imagine what his life would be like when Jenny left it. It wasn’t the loneliness that would hurt—it was the absence of her. Small and kind and fiercely loyal.

“I’m sorry,” he said softly.

“For what?” Jenny mumbled into his coat.

For a lot of things. Most of them things he couldn’t tell her. “I feel as though I’m an entirely unsuitable husband for a woman of your caliber,” said Giles, which was true enough that it alleviated some of the guilt.

Jenny snorted, raising her head. “Bet you wouldn’t have said that on that plane ride,” she said. “All that stuff you had to say about decency and respectability—”

“Sod decency, Jenny,” said Giles with a wet laugh. “Decency didn’t bring us here, did it? Our marriage is a horribly unromantic story, but I don’t know if I could handle this town alone. I’m grateful I don’t have to.”

Jenny suddenly looked rather nervous. “I don’t know if I’m up for long-term commitment,” she said.

“Is this that?”

“Well, we’re married,” said Jenny awkwardly. “And we never actually talked about what all that kissing meant, I just thought—”

“Jenny, no amount of kissing means that we have to stay married,” said Giles, alarmed by her presumption.

“We just started talking about feelings and how this marriage wasn’t just appearances—”

“We are in an entirely unusual situation,” said Giles, choosing his words carefully. “You yourself mentioned that before our date was derailed.”

Jenny exhaled. “Yeah,” she said. “Yeah, okay. I just—it’s hard for me to wrap my head around this whole thing. I mean, god, I like you, I really do, but marriage isn’t ever something I would have chosen for myself. Being in a relationship with you means I’m at least considering—”

“It absolutely doesn’t have to mean that,” said Giles firmly. “This marriage is only a marriage from a legal standpoint. Even if no one but us knows it, we’re really just two people who have realized—albeit in the strangest possible way—that we would like to know rather more about each other.”

Jenny smiled slightly. “So this is just us dating,” she said.

“Yes.”

“But, like, we’re also legally married.”

“I did say it was the strangest possible way to get to know a lady,” Giles quipped. His smile softened. “If it would help, even a little…would you like to set an end date? Some point in time where we—”

But Jenny shook her head. “I don’t think that’s what I want,” she said, and reached up, lightly touching his cheek. Giles’s heart fluttered. “I meant what I said about not wanting to be married, Rupert, but…so far, marriage to you has been kind of okay. Stamping an end date on any possible relationship seems kinda pessimistic.”

“So—”

“I think we’ll know when it’s time to split,” said Jenny simply.

Giles found that he agreed. “All right,” he said. “So for now we’re legally married. But that’s a side thing that we can work out if this doesn’t.”

Jenny nodded, then settled further into his arms with a shaky sigh. “It’s been a really tough day,” she said. “And it doesn’t help that people are being eaten on campus, but…I’m glad I’ve got you here too. Sunnydale can’t possibly be a fun town to live in by yourself.”

“Principal Flutie was married, I think,” said Giles distantly.

Jenny raised her head. “Well, he wasn’t married to me,” she said matter-of-factly, as if by determination alone she could keep Giles from anything that might wish him harm. The look in her eyes made Giles quite believe that she could.

“I trust you, you know,” he said, and it was more for himself than for her. An affirmation that this was, in fact, someone he could trust, regardless of the secrets she might be keeping.

Jenny blinked, then smiled, and the guiltlessness of her smile confirmed it: whatever it was she was hiding from him, she didn’t think it something that might hurt him in the long run. He could understand that sort of secret. “I trust you too,” she said, a half-laugh in her voice, like she couldn’t possibly understand why he might want to tell her this.

Giles tried to smile in return.

They walked to the library together. Jenny, while still clearly shaken by Principal Flutie’s death, did seem comforted; Giles had no idea what he was feeling. Almost all of the secrets kept from Jenny had been justified by the fact that she would eventually be leaving his life, but now…true as it was that he didn’t know everything about her, it was also true that she was clearly a woman to be trusted. Staying married to her while not telling her what she had signed up for felt thoroughly dishonest.

Thankfully, the children were discussing the matter at hand when they entered, which meant that Giles was once again back on the Watcher clock. “Right now I'm a little more worried about what the rest of the pack are up to,” Buffy was saying, and Giles felt Jenny wince next to him.

“The rest of the pack were spotted outside Herbert the mascot's cage,” said Giles, doing his best to keep his tone steady. He wasn’t quite sure if he managed. “They were sent to the principal's office.”

“Good! That'll show 'em,” said Willow emphatically. When Giles and Jenny didn’t respond, she faltered. “Did it show 'em?”

Jenny let out a shaking breath, her hand tightening around Giles’s.

“They didn't hurt him, did they?” Buffy asked, but it sounded as though she already knew the answer.

“They ate him,” said Jenny quietly.

Willow sat down, slowly. “They ate Principal Flutie?” Buffy asked.

“Ate him up?” Willow added.

“According to the vice principal, wild dogs ate him, but, uh, that’s about as likely as…” Jenny trailed off, waving a hand.

“A science teacher with his head missing,” Giles finished darkly. Jenny flinched. Belatedly, Giles remembered that this amount of death wasn’t something Jenny was at all used to. “Jenny,” he said quietly, “we can continue to look into this without you, if you need some time—”

“No,” said Jenny. Her hand was now gripping Giles’s tight enough to cut off circulation.

“Xander didn’t eat anybody, though,” said Willow suddenly. “He was with Buffy.”

Jenny let go of Giles’s hand to step towards the book cage, which was when Giles noticed the slumped figure of Xander lying across the floor. “Oh!” he said. “Well, that’s a small—no, Jenny, don’t get too close,” he added sharply, pulling her hastily back. “We don’t know what he’s capable of.”

“Guys, how do we stop this?” Buffy asked, still visibly shaken. “How do you trans-possess someone?”

“We’re missing a lot of pieces,” said Jenny, “and we’re running out of time.”

“There’s some talk of a predatory act, but the exact ritual is, um…” Giles trailed off, thinking. “The Malleus Maleficarum deals in—”

“That’s demonic possession, Rupert,” said Jenny shortly. “We don’t want the demon transferred from human to human, we want the hyena back in the hyena.”

There was a strange, surprised silence. “You know my books,” said Giles, unable to stop himself from smiling.

“Light reading,” said Jenny, blushing. “My point is that until we know more—”

“Betcha that zookeeper could tell us,” said Buffy suddenly. “Maybe he didn't quarantine those hyenas because they were sick.”

“We should talk to him,” Giles suggested.

“Okay,” said Buffy, and took two steps towards the exit before stopping. “Oh, wait, somebody's gotta watch Xander—”

“I will,” said Willow.

“No way,” said Jenny sharply. “If he wakes up—”

“I’ll be fine!” Willow objected. “I know Xander, it’s—”

“That’s not Xander, Willow,” said Jenny. “That’s something else. If you’re staying, I’m staying with you.”

Giles’s mind immediately jumped from dead pigs to Flutie’s remains to coming back and finding Jenny in pieces across the library floor. “Jenny, I don’t think—” he began.

“You’re not leaving a teenager alone with a possessed kid!” Jenny snapped. “That is a recipe for more people dead, and I won’t be having any more deaths today if there’s anything I can do to stop them!”

Buffy and Willow both looked a little impressed at this, though the latter also looked somewhat annoyed at being labeled a teenager. Jenny had a point, Giles knew, but the thought of leaving her anywhere that wasn’t with him, especially when there were possessed hyenas on the loose…

The words tumbled out of Giles before he had quite realized what he was saying. “You talk so much about the deaths you want to prevent, Jenny,” he said. “What do you think it would do to me if I knew I could have prevented yours?”

The furious look on Jenny’s face froze. She looked honestly speechless.

Giles found himself stunned by his own words as well. Trusting Jenny was one thing, but this unexpected depth of emotion she inspired—this was altogether another. “I care—deeply—about you,” he said clumsily; it felt woefully inadequate, but it would have to do. “I think you should know that.” Turning to face his wife, he took her hands. “You’re right to stay with Willow,” he said. “And it’s selfish of me to want you at my side. Please, dear, just be careful.” Nodding to a stunned Buffy, he let go of Jenny and headed out of the library, not entirely ready to look back. If anything happened to Jenny while he was gone, he didn’t know what he would do.

Of bloody course the pack would come back for Xander. The abject terror that Giles felt as he raced through the hallways was unlike anything he had experienced before. Jenny had stayed behind to help. If anything had happened to her…

Giles caught sight of Buffy hitting one of the pack members with a fire extinguisher, and then Jenny tumbled through the half-open classroom door and into his arms. On impulse, he kissed her very hard, then held her tightly to him as Willow stumbled through as well. “I’m so sorry, I hadn’t thought they’d come back for Xander—” he stammered, all but dizzy with relief.

“Adds some spice to life, doesn’t it?” said Jenny, just as they caught sight of three other pack members down the hall.

“Run!” Buffy shouted. Willow obliged. Giles, absolutely unwilling to let go of Jenny, scooped her up in his arms before she could object. “Rupert!” she shrieked, but he was already following Buffy and Willow into the computer lab, slamming the door shut behind them. Buffy pushed past him to lock it; he set Jenny down.

“God, are you five?”Jenny demanded, face flushed. “I can run by myself!”

“I didn’t—want—I thought you might be dead,” Giles managed, touching her cheek very gently.

Jenny blinked, startled, then gave him a small, relieved smile, leaning into his hand. “Well,” she said. “I’m not. So no worries.”

“If you two are done being married,” said Buffy, but without as much of her usual exasperation behind it, “we’ve gotta get the pack back to the zoo.”

Giles wavered. “Individually, they’re almost as strong as you,” he began. “As a group, they’re—”

“Tough,” Buffy finished, “but getting stupider. You guys head to the zoo and I’ll figure out a way to get them there.”

Giles nodded, taking Jenny’s hand. Willow followed.

“There’s the Hyena House,” said Willow, pointing down the path. “Where’s the zookeeper?”

“He must be preparing for the ritual,” said Giles. “I’ll go in to help—” He paused, glancing at Jenny. “Jenny, would you come with me? Your expertise in this area has served us well thus far.”

“Just laying on the compliments tonight, aren’t you?” said Jenny, looking genuinely flattered. “Willow, warn us as soon as you see them coming.” She fell into step with Giles as they hurried down the path, then tugged on his sleeve, stopping them once they were a good distance away from Willow.

“What is it?”

“What you said,” said Jenny. She looked a little nervous. “About…caring about me, and, and wanting me next to you. And then kissing me like that when you got back, I didn’t know…I mean, I knew you and I finally reached a kind of okay place, but Rupert, I’ve never seen you like that before.”

“This is uncharted territory for both of us, to be honest,” said Giles, which was the closest to the truth that he could give her.

Jenny gave him a small, fluttery smile, one of those special ones that he’d begun to realize only came out around him. “Hey, c’mere,” she said softly, and gripped his scarf, pulling him gently down into a quiet kiss.

“Um, Giles?” called Willow from up the path, sounding a little exasperated.

Jenny pulled back, wincing. “Duty calls,” she said, looking a little embarrassed.

“And here I was sure it was too dark for her to see us,” muttered Giles, grabbing Jenny’s hand and pulling her along. As they ducked under the tape, he called, “Doctor? Um—zookeeper?”The zookeeper rounded the corner, face painted. “Ah,” said Giles, relieved. “The traditional Masai ceremonial garb. Very good.”

‘We all set for the trans-possession?” Jenny asked.

“Almost,” said the zookeeper.

Giles then noticed the markings on the floor. “Oh, right, yes!” he said. “The sacred circle! Yes, you’d need that to…” He trailed off, frowning. “But this would be here when…”

“Rupert,” said Jenny slowly, “it’s not possible to pull off a trans-possession without some planning beforehand.”

“I’m quite aware of that, Jenny,” said Giles, looking again at the zookeeper. The man was watching them both with a sharp, wary expression.

“People died,” said Jenny. Her eyes were flashing as she tugged her hand free of Giles’s, stepping forward and towards the zookeeper. “You are so much worse than some fucking vampire. People died because of your stupid attempt at a power trip. Kids are going to have to deal with the knowledge that they ate a person.How do you justify inflicting that on children?”

Without warning, the zookeeper lashed out, hitting Jenny hard with his staff. She fell to the ground, unconscious.

The last thing Giles thought before the staff swung in his direction was I really need to get better at figuring these things out.

He woke up in a cramped storage closet, Jenny leaning against him. Wincing, he pulled himself to his feet, keeping a steadying hand on the small of Jenny’s back.

“Does every night with you end with us knocked out?” Jenny mumbled as he opened the door.

“I’d say it’s an unfortunately safe bet,” said Giles ruefully. “My apologies.” Blinking up and around at the Hyena House, he added to Buffy, Willow, and Xander, “Did we miss anything?”

“More like everything,” Buffy began, then winced sympathetically. “You guys get knocked out?”

“The amount of head trauma that this job entails is ridiculous,” Giles muttered, hugging Jenny to his side. “You’re all right, dear?”

“Ugh,” said Jenny.

“My sentiments exactly,” said Giles.

“Listen, you guys should, uh, probably head home,” said Buffy, who was looking a little worriedly at the disoriented Jenny. “Or maybe to a hospital?”

“No, I’m cool!” said Jenny, tried to stand up without help, lost her balance, and fell into Giles’s side. Giles fell into the wall.

“Sure,” said Buffy, mouth twitching. “Okay. You two can meet us at the car, then?” Without waiting for an answer, she turned to Willow and Xander, beginning to gently fuss over the latter.

“Hey, I actually have a quick errand to run,” said Jenny, raising a hand to rub the back of her head. She still looked a little shaky on her feet, but she wasn’t quite as unsteady. “Is it okay if I meet you back at home?”

“Jenny—” Giles began, then stopped.

“Yeah?” Jenny met his eyes, holding his stare with a determined resolve.

Giles considered. Then he said, “I’ll see you at home, dear. Do be careful,” and dropped a kiss to her forehead.

He trusted her. It felt like the right choice.