fandomtownies | Aereopagitica, Thursday

Holding her bag of cassettes, Angela wandered into the bookstore with half a wave at the man behind the counter.

Giles smiled. "Hello. Is there anything I can help you with?"

"I'm looking for a good book -- I guess a biography? For a long car ride," Angela said slowly, eyes perusing the shelves. "But, um, I also wanted to say hi."

She considered how to explain how she knew who Giles was and gave up. "I'm a friend of Angel's. I was in England and I got to see the Watchers' offices. Thanks for sending us there."

A biography? "Hmmm. That would depend. What kind of things are you interested in? Biographies can be tricky to recommend. For example, if you're a J. D. Salinger fan, recommending Obstinate Heart, a biography of Jane Austen, is probably a very bad idea."

When Angela told her who she was, Giles's forehead wrinkled briefly, but was replaced by a bland, neutral expression.

"He's very important to some people who are very dear to me. I was glad to help in any way I could," he said stiffly.

Then he looked pained.

"Er, the offices--they weren't...damaged or anything, were they? Andrew promised me he'd take care of them, but sometimes his...experiments can get out of hand."

She'd bought her 'Music of Pain' cd from Marty, and began to head back home. Unfortunately they took her the old route. Stopping across the street from the bookshop, she saw that someone had taken over Mr. Phale's space and she couldn't wait to check it out.

Walking in, the first thing she noticed was how orderly it was...like the new owner actually intended to sel books. What a novel idea.

She groaned out loud for even thinking that.

The bell at the door tinkled just as Giles had been wrestling with a manuscript written by a monk with a severe case of eye-skip. He looked up somewhat gratefully.

"Yes, miss? How may I help you?"

"Is the Austen biography good?" Angela mused. "Because I love Sense & Sensibility."

"The offices were fine, I guess," she said. "The good books weren't there, though. We had to go to this Watcher's House."

[OOC: Ack! Heading offline for the night, okay to pick this up tomorrow?]

She smiled brightly at him and walked over to the counter. "I don't know. I noticed the shop was open again, so I came in to check it out. CJ Cregg." she said, softly offering her hand.

"Oh! Well, then," Giles said with a conspiratorial smile, "I highly recommend Obstinate Heart. It's not very long, but extremely insightful."

"Yes, I warned Xander that the collection was somewhat abbreviated--

"Waitaminute. What watcher's house?"

Giles shook her hand. "Rupert Giles. Pleased to meet you."

Rory tentatively stepped into the shop, looking around. Upon spying the man behind the counter, she smiled and made her approach.

"Um, hi. I'm Rory Gilmore - we spoke on the phone?" she said quietly, not wanting to disturb his work if she could help it.

Giles's face lit up.

"Miss Gilmore! It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Rupert." she nodded then turned to look around, "Do you have an recommendations? Anything not related to speech would be nice."

Rory grinned. "Likewise, sir," she said, extending her right hand to shake. "It's nice to finally put a face to the voice."

Giles adjusted his glasses. "Ah, well we have many non-rhetorically-oriented things. Fiction, perhaps? Or non-fiction. Some history, perhaps?"

"Indeed it is. So tell me, what are you studying in school that you only needed nominal assistance translating the text I was sent?"

"Non-fiction, probably. Do you happen to have anything by Jill Connor Browne? Her Field Guide to Men, maybe?"

"I had a great deal of training with dead and archaic languages at my old school - Chilton Academy. It's a prep school outside Hartford. In any case, I've just...always been good with languages." She shrugged. "And I had a refresher in the classics last semester."

Giles lead CJ over to the same self-help section Agatha had browsed when the store first opened--what now felt like a million years ago.

"Let's see here.... The Sweet Potato Queens' Book of Love, The Sweet Potato Queens' Wedding Planner-Slash-Divorce Guide...Ah yes! Here it is! The Sweet Potato Queens' Field Guide to Men." Giles took it down from the shelf and handed it to CJ.

"Thank you, Rupert." Taking the book, she flipped through it on her way back to the counter, laughing softly.

"I really like her. She makes everything seem funny and not so bad.Maybe it'll help to laugh off my new singleness, hmm?"

If Giles were just a little less well bred, he'd be drooling.

"Really? Here, take a look at what I've been working on. The monk who transcribed it seemed to have a terrible time focusing on the lines...." He went back to the counter and started rifling through the papers.

"Oh?" Rory asked, raising an eyebrow. "Sure. And yeah, I hate that, when it's nearly illegible on top of being an already difficult translation." She shook her head as though to clear it. "Actually, there was a man when we were in England who recommended I ask you about becoming a Watcher. Something about having an aptitude for it."

"Ah, well, I'm not very familiar with her work, but that combination wedding planner and divorce guide does seem to convey a certain...attitude."

Giles smiled quietly. "Singleness isn't so bad. You get a lot accomplished. My own single state seems to be somewhat...endagered these days, however."

"If you have the linguistic skills, absolutely! Who told you?"

"Um...Andrew Wells was his name, I think?"

"Mine is still new and shiny. I haven't gotten much accomplished at all. So how long have you been open here, Rupert?"

Angela took the Austen biography off the shelf and weighed it in her hands, reading hte back cover.

"Um, Roger Wyndam-Pryce's house," she said, making a face. "His son Wesley went here last semester. This girl Amanda told us he had all the really good books."

Giles blinked rapidly and took off his glasses.

"Roger? But he's not a--" That great sodding BASTARD! I knew Andrew wouldn't have the strength of character to tell the great pompous oaf to bugger off. Giles took a deep breath. Xander was still in charge, and would come in from where ever he was and put Roger in his place if he got too out of hand. Giles would have words with him as well. What the hell was he doing with books that belonged to the Council in his own home? Unless, of course, they predated the explosion and Roger just happened to forget to mention them...

Perhaps it's time I dropped bug in the Upper Council's collective ear about how much free time Roger seems to have. And about his problems sharing and playing well with others.

This line of vindictive thought (which was about thirty years in the making) was cut short as the end of Angela's statement sank through.

"Amanda? Who's she? Did Andrew hire someone?"

Giles smiled ruefully. "Yes, well, despite Andrew's opinion, I think you'd make a fine watcher.

"How are you with non-human languages? Have you studied any of the demonic tongues?

"A tiny, tiny bit. I got a pamphlet on something called Grq'lt," Rory replied, blushing a little. "Where I'm from? Demons don't even exist...as far as we know, anyway. So I'm a bit behind there."

"I guess?" Angela shrugged. "She was from Sunnydale. She said she went to high school with somebody called Dawn."

Giles gripped the edge of the counter.

"A tall girl? Long, straight brown hair?"

Giles waved this minor inconvenience away. "Well, if you'd like, I can tutor you in some of the more common languages. If you have the time."

Seriously? The idea of having a Watcher junior to train is making the man ecstatic.

"Oh, I'd love that," Rory said gratefully. "I had absolutely no idea where to start with that."

"That'd be wonderful," Giles said. "Please feel free to stop by the store whenever you're ready to start."

No, really. Ecstatic.

"No more than a couple of weeks," Giles smiled as he rang up CJ's purchases. "It's a very, ah, interesting place."

"Absolutely," Rory nodded. She glanced at her watch. "I should probably go check on Angel while I can. It was lovely meeting you."

"Likewise. Stop by anytime."

"Uh-huh," Angela said, hands tightening on the book. "Big eyes, looked lkind of like an elf."

"You know her?"

"Interesting in the Chinese curse sense, maybe. It's generally quiet until it all goes to hell." she passed him her credit card with a smile. "But it's not so bad."

Giles shut his mouth with a snap.

"I-I did. She was a Sla--Potential. A potential vampire Slayer." Giles didn't know how to put it gently, so he just put it.

"She's dead."

The book fell out of Angela's hands and thudded to the floor. "It must be someone different," she said. "I mean, dead people don't just -- hang around and tak to me."

Right?

The poor girl seemed seriously shaken. Enough that Giles pulled himself together.

"Well, that depends. Have you ever seen things that other people didn't?"

"Not exactly?" Angela said, then sighed. "Maybe. Not all the time, but .... yeah."

She rubbed her forehead. "I need time to think about this. And I need to pack to go home. How much for the book?"

[OOC: Sorry, figure we should probably wrap this.]

"Four dollars. And if you ever want more information on what we've talked about, feel free to stop by." Giles wrapped the book in brown paper and handed it to her.

"Absolutely," Angela said, taking the book and paying. "And thanks again, for everything."

[OOC: NP -- it was fun.]

Aereopagitica, Thursday

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