Title:  The Merits of Research
Author: NetGirl
Rating:  PG
Disclaimer: No own, no sue. 
Summary:  Anya and Giles bond over research and Chinese food.


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Xander referred to them as her ‘Why didn’t I take the blue pill’ days, these were the days when she wished she’d pulled Buffy aside and said, “I think it’s great that you save the world and everything, but my human form is new and I’m very protective of it and I’d rather it not be damaged or killed. So all things considered I’d rather be kept away from the slaying, thank you very much.” Anya was certainly having one of those days today; she sighed and returned to her work.

“Anya, what are you doing?” Giles asked.

“Accounts,” Anya gestured widely to the rows of figures in front of her, for someone who knew so many big words sometimes Giles wasn’t all that bright.

“Well, we’re supposed to be researching Glory right now,” he dropped a musty book on top of Anya’s carefully arranged accounts; she promptly pushed the book away.

“I was on my break, everyone else got a break.”

Giles sighed, sitting down next to Anya, “Nobody else got a break, Xander has taken Dawn home, Buffy and Riley are patrolling and Willow and Tara have gone home to attempt a locator spell” He resisted the urge to question her about why on earth she was using her ‘break’ to do the Magic Box accounts, as long as she was doing the accounts he didn’t have to struggle through them.

“Willow and Tara get the night off just because they have powers!? That’s so unfair, I used to have powers. I bet they’re having sex.”

Giles looked around for something to polish his glasses with, “Anya-“

She cut him off, “We’ve been reading very old, very boring books for five hours now, I’m due a break for food,” she favoured him with a brilliant smile, “I researched labour laws when I started working for you so that you couldn’t take advantage of me.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” he said drolly, making his way behind the counter, “There’s a Chinese takeaway that delivers this late. You would think restaurants in Sunnydale would know better than to deliver after dark, wouldn’t you?”

“They make good money from the vampires and demons, post massacre munchies apparently,” Anya stated. Giles raised a questioning eyebrow, “What? I talk to the customers about things other than their money you know.”

“Shall I just order your usual, or do you want something else?” Giles asked as he picked up the phone to dial.

“I have a usual?”

“You usually have the crispy duck, but if you want something else I think I have a menu around here somewhere...”

“Duck is fine. It was very attentive of you to notice.” While Giles ordered Anya pondered the merits of sleeping with a man with an enormous squishy brain like Giles’s- he’d never forget your birthday that was for sure.

The food arrived promptly, the delivery guy having successfully avoided being eaten.

“Don’t pay him with money from my till!” Anya exclaimed.

“You mean our till,” Giles tried to hide his amusement behind a stern look, at least he’d never go bankrupt with Anya around. He paid the deliveryman with money from his own wallet. “Sunnydale must be the only town in the world where delivery persons wear wooden crucifixes around their necks,” he mused.

“No, they do it in this town in Scotland as well,” Giles looked at her questioningly, “Oh, there’s a Hellmouth there too,” she said enthusiastically ripping open boxes of fried rice.

“Hold on a second, I have some plates and cutlery in the back.”

‘Resourcefulness, there’s another attractive trait in a man,’ thought Anya as Giles moved the books and papers to create two makeshift place settings and dished out their meals.

“Are you going to pull out my chair for me?” Anya joked.

“It honestly hadn’t occurred to me,” Giles said sitting down.

They passed a pleasant twenty minutes eating and talking about how well the magic box was doing, they made a deliberate point of avoiding the subjects of Dawn, Glory and the likely hood of them all dying in the imminent future.

“Do you know, you’re really quite attractive for a man your age.”

Giles choked on a pepper, the length of time he’d known Anya you would have thought he’d be used to her abrupt exclamations, unfortunately he wasn’t and he now and some food stuck in his throat for his trouble. He coughed and spluttered, “Excuse me?”

“I’ve been worrying lately about getting old, thinking that maybe in a few years people won’t want to have sex with me anymore. But you’re older than me and you’re very handsome, even those lines around your eyes are kind of distinguished and I’m sure that many women and men desire you. So thank you for that.”

“Oh, um,” Giles removed his glasses, polished them and put them back on, “Thank you...Distinguished?”

“Yes, very distinguished,” the space between Anya and Giles began to dissolve.

“Yes, well you’re a very beautiful young women, an excellent employee and-“ Anya’s hand reached up to remove Giles’ glasses and what was left of the space between them disappeared. Giles lips were dry and rougher than Xander’s, he smelled of old books and tea leaves and tasted of Thai Curry. One of his hands settled on Anya’s waist, the other tangling in her blonde curls.

Anya let the hand that was holding his glasses dangle by her side, her other hand settling just above Giles knee, then Giles mouth opened and he was really kissing her, slow, and sure, and good and with a confidence that Xander lack...Oh, Shit!

Anya pulled away so sharply that her chair skidded a few centimetres back, “Shit, I just kissed you, and I liked it. I kissed my boyfriends mentor. I’ve removed peoples lungs for doing that!”

“It’s okay,” Giles reached over to gently remove his glasses from Anya’s grasp. “Xander doesn’t have to know, we won’t tell him.” He ran his hands down Anya’s arms from shoulders to wrists in a soothing manner, looking in Anya’s wide eyes.

“Giles, you’re not going to kiss me again are you?”

“No,” Giles sighed, releasing Anya’s wrists and taking a step away, “not if you don’t want me too.”