Dinner had been fabulous; it had been entertaining watching Giles interact with his father. [They're so much alike,] Willow thought, [it's uncanny...]
Giles and his father sat across the massive oak table from one another all through dinner; in that time they'd mirrored each other's movements and gestures, even down to pinching the bridges of their noses. Willow had barely managed to stop a laugh that would have sprayed the elder Giles, seated across from her, with cream of tomato soup.
About twenty-five Watchers lived here in Rosehaven, the castle named for the garden Willow had previously visited.Now they moved into the lounge for dessert and coffee, and Giles reluctantly left his guest's side to move among the gathered group. Edwin and Bryan went back into the garden, closing the glass doors behind themselves and moving off into the darkness. So Willow watched the group and sipped her coffee quietly for a few minutes, gracefully settling down on one of the lavishly upholstered benches that were interspersed among the plump sofas and chairs in the large room.
Willow observed the party with a strange sense of detachment. It was kind of like being at the Bronze, she decided, because she tended to do as much watching there. Willow laughed to herself at her own pun.
Giles crossed the room and sat down next to her. Smiling, he said, "What are you doing, Willow?"
"Watching." she said.
He smiled his dashing smile at her -- the one she'd seen him smile at Ms. Calendar with. Willow's own smile began to fade away at the thought of the night she had died. Willow supposed that her death was the reason she and Giles were here.
"Willow, what's wrong?" he asked, breaking her from her reverie.
"I was, um," she began, "I was thinking about Ms. Calendar."
"Oh." Giles said, and sank down further into his seat. "Oh."
"We're here to get away from our memories, aren't we?"
"I suppose we are." he said. He reached over and took her hand in his own. "It's sometimes necessary to get away, to establish a new perspective on things."
"I'm not blaming you or accusing you of anything, Giles." She took another sip of her coffee. "I was just wondering."
"You're very perceptive." he sighed, "and that's another thing a Watcher needs to be."
"Gee. Why does being perceptive make me feel bad?" she said. "I mean, like just now. I didn't want to bring it up, but I needed to know, you know?"
"You should never feel bad about being perceptive, Willow. Not ever, especially around me. Alright?" Giles said, grasping both her hands. He looked into her eyes and continued, "Promise me, you'll always be honest with me, Willow."
"I -- I promise." Willow's voice faltered as she returned her mentor's stare. "I promise."
A red-haired woman approached them from the opposite side of the lounge. She was tall, and possesed of some loose, lanky grace. Her hair, tied up in a loose ponytail, had one streak of pure white over her left ear, and she had piercing green eyes. It took a moment to realize that the woman was well into her forties, perhaps even older, becauseshe carried herself so well. She finally reached the seated pair and said, "Rupert, aren't you going to introduce me to your little girlfriend here?"
Giles blanched, and before he could answer, Willow stood up and extended her right hand. "Willow Rosenberg. And you are?"
"Adelaide Giles." she replied in a strong voice. She shook Willow's hand and smiled. "I'm Rupert's mother."
Willow stared openmouthed at the woman for a second. "No way." She looked too young to be Giles' mom!
"I believe the correct response would be 'Way.' Right?" Adelaide said. She turned to her son and said, "Really, Rupert, you couldn't stop by my office to say hello, or introduce me to this lovely young woman here, when you got in?"
Giles had regained his composure and stood up. "Mother, this is Willow. The one I wrote you about."
"Oh?" Adelaide stared at the girl for a moment. Willow felt like a bug under a microscope for a few seconds and then the moment passed. "She'll be wonderful. She's very strong. She should be tutored with me. I'll speak to your father about her."
"He knows you're here, then, Mother?"
"Not exactly."
The garden doors swung open and Edwin and Bryan stepped inside. Bryan made a sweep of the room looking for his son; when his eyes stopped to rest on Adelaide, he stiffened. He very nearly sauntered over to the bench and said in a stiff voice. "If it isn't my lovely wife."
"Of course it is, you old fool." she said drily.
"Charming as ever, Adelaide." Edwin interjected. He was silenced a moment later by icy stares from his aunt and uncle.
Bryan and Adelaide attempted to stare each other down as Edwin took Willow's arm and led her into the corridor outside the lounge. "They're always like that?" Willow asked.
"Well, yes. Very perceptive of you, Willow." Edwin chuckled. "I do my best to keep her riled up. My mother tells me that she's always been like that. How she managed to win the heart of the head of the Watchers is beyond me."
"She's beautiful, Edwin. Maybe it was love at first sight?"
"Maybe." the huge man said. "Actually, on second thought. That's about the only way it could have happened. They really can't stand living together, that's for sure."
"Giles is their only child?" Willow asked.
"Who? Rupert?" he said. "Yes. He was a honeymoon baby. Uncle Bryan got caught up in his work here shortly afterward, and they just seemed to drift apart...that's what my mother says."
"Is your mother a Watcher, too?" Willow asked.
"No. She's just family."
"Oh."
"Aunt Adelaide and Uncle Bryan?" he continued. "They really haven't spoken more than two civil words to each other since my cousin left for London."
"So that's why." she said pensively.
"Why what?" Edwin asked.
Willow stopped in front of the mosaic of Ishetar again. "Why Giles looked so uncomfortable when he saw them together."
"You're amazingly perceptive, Willow."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Tell me something I don't know." she grinned up at him.
They continued along in comfortable silence for a few minutes before stopping outside Willow's rooms."Thanks for walking me back here, Edwin."
"Sure. Anytime."
Willow watched him head down the hall before closing the door to her room.