Bottoms Up 

"Giles, are you sure this is a good idea?" Buffy asked
glancing nervously at Willow.

"Object lessons are the best way to learn," he said
calmly.

"Well, maybe I should stick around. You know, just in
case things get out of hand."

"I think I'm quite capable of handling the situation,"
he said with a pointed glare.

"Fine, fine. I still think it's nutty," she said
plopping down next to Willow on the sofa.

"It's okay Buffy," Willow said softly. "I mean, Giles
is right." She leaned in and whispered to her friend.
"Besides it'll help me cash in some more of these
guilt coupons I'm carrying around. You can only bake
away so many."

"I still think it's stupid," she responded. "You can't
teach somebody not to drink by getting them drunk. I
mean, you wouldn't teach her sex was bad by screwing
her brains out would you?"

They both glared at her. "Okay, bad example."

Giles looked uncomfortably at Willow before clearing
his throat.

"I'm simply trying to show Willow the dangers of using
alcohol to escape her life," Giles said logically as
he placed two shot glasses and a bottle of Scotch on
the table.

"Okey-dokey," Buffy said rolling her eyes. "You're the
expert."

That earned her another withering glance.

"Not that way. Well, you know what I mean," she added
hastily.

"I think it's time you left, Buffy," Giles said
firmly.

"Fine, fine." She stood and turned back to Willow.
"Last chance to back out, Wills."

"Buffy, it's okay. I'll be fine."

Buffy sighed dramatically and left.

"Willow, are you ready?" Giles asked.

"Yup," she said gamely taking her chair at the table.

Giles remained standing for a moment. "Now, Willow.
I'm only doing this because I don't want you to make
some of the same mistakes I did."

"It was only a few beers," she tried explained again.
"I mean, Buffy gets to drink pitchers of beer with older
guys, almost kills people, but does anyone lecture her?
Nope. Xander got a fake ID so he could *serve* Buffy
the beer and he gets away with it. And you.... you..." she
trailed off nervously. "You were saying?"

Giles frowned and sighed heavily choosing to ignore
her mini-diatribe.

"It starts with one drink, Willow. Regardless, I'm hoping after
tonight, you won't turn to alcohol the next time things don't
go well for you."

She nodded resignedly, and he took his chair opposite
her. He broke the seal on the bottle and poured two
drinks. "Considering the difference in our sizes and
experience, this shouldn't take too long."

She pulled a quarter out of her pocket and placed it
on the table.

"What's that for?" he asked.

"I thought we might get bored and play quarters," she
said suddenly wishing she could swallow her words.

"Willow, aside from the fact that this isn't a game,
where did you learn to play quarters?" he asked his
eyes narrowing.

"On--on the Internet. Some silly site. It's as good as
off my favorite's list. I swear," she said putting her
hand on her heart.

He stifled a chuckle. "All right then." He slid the
shot glass in front of her. She picked it up and
smelled the amber liquid. She made an icky face and
blew air out of her nose quickly. "Couldn't we use
champagne or something?"

"No," he said firmly. He raised his glass; she copied
him. "Bottoms up," he said as the glasses clinked
together.

Giles threw back his shot with ease, while Willow
tried to sip hers. She made a face and coughed.

"All at once," he suggested.

She nodded and tossed back the shot. Her eyes popped
wide open and her breath caught. She gasped for air
for a moment, then coughed hard, her eyes watering.
"Smooth," she blurted between coughs.

He laughed in spite of himself. This wasn't supposed
to be fun, and yet Willow was so charming he couldn't
help himself.

"Are you all right?" he asked as she continued to
cough.

She nodded and swallowed hard. "It's all warm and
burny going down," she said. "I can feel it." She
touched her chest and ran a delicate finger down
between her breasts. Giles followed the path of that
lucky finger, trying futilely not to become aroused.

He took a deep breath and tore his eyes away. "Right,
uhm---"

"Another?" she asked shoving the empty glass across
the table.

He smiled. "Another." He refilled both glasses.

She took hers and raised it into the air. "L'Chaim!"
she toasted.

"To life," he agreed and they tossed back the shots.
This one went a bit more smoothly for Willow. The
burning wasn't quite as bad, and she barely coughed.
She sure hoped that spell she'd cast on herself to
ward off the effects of alcohol worked. So far - so
good.

*****

"To Buffy," Willow offered.

Giles snorted. "We already did her." He lowered his
head in thought and then snapped it back up. "Oh! I
have it. To Amy the Rat. May she be de-ratted---
eventually." He smiled crookedly, and they drank down
the liquor.

Giles slammed down his glass on the table as Willow
daintily wiped her mouth. He leaned forward and gazed
at her through heavy lids. She didn't seem to be
getting drunk. They'd had six, or nine, or maybe
twelve. Anyway, it was divisable by three, he knew
that much. But he couldn't remember exactly how many
shots and still she seemed perfectly fine.

He sighed. "You know, maybe you're sitting too still.
You need to get up and move around."

She giggled nervously. "And do what?"

"I dunno," he said. "You could dance," he said with
grin.

She shook her head. "No," she said shyly.

He smirked wickedly, feeling decidedly naughty. "You
could just spin around a little and -- stuff."

"I don't want to dance," Willow said softly. "Not
alone."

"Oh, right!" He stood up quickly, knocking the chair
backwards. "Sorry chair." He stumbled out from behind
the table and bowed deeply. "Miss Rosenberg, may I
have the pleasure of the pleasure of this dance?" he
said with a flourish punctuated by a hiccup.

She giggled and took the proffered hand.

Taking her by surprise, Giles pulled her to his body
in one quick movement. His arms held her tightly as he
leaned in and breathed the aroma of her shampoo. "You
smell awfully good, Will-ow."

This was a dream come true, except for the Giles being
snockered part. Still, best enjoy it while she could.

"Did I ever tell you that you smell like vanilla?" he
whispered into her hair. "Delicious, pure, vanilla?"

"No, no you didn't," she said nervously.

He pulled back slightly and tilted her head up. "There
are a great many things I haven't told you, my dear,"
he said sadly.

"Giles-" she said. Like a bad taco, her guilt coupons
were coming up on her again.

"So very many," he said softly leaning down.
"--things, Will-ow." His face was inches from hers
chasing all thoughts of guilt far, far away. His
breath played upon her lips, his eyes looking at her
as he did in her dreams.

"Oh," she breathed. He couldn't resist the shape of
her mouth, her lips slightly open. He pressed his
mouth to hers, gently at first and then with growing
passion. Her arms wound around his neck, holding him
to her. One of his hands spread out across the small
of her back, the other tangling in her silky hair.

Finally he pulled back and looked at her with
smoldering eyes.

She gasped for air. "Was that one of the things you
wanted to tell me?"

He nodded slowly, seductively leaning in again to
nuzzle her neck. "One of many, my dear." He kissed her
neck, and she moaned.

"Oh, Giles, we shouldn't---" She swallowed hard. "We
shouldn't do this. Not now."

"Why not, love?" he asked his lips drifting down to
her collarbone, chasing all the logic out of her
brain.

"Why?" she asked between moans. "Why what?" His kisses
were driving her mad.

"Mmmm," he purred against her skin, the vibrations
causing her heart to race.

"G-giles?" she breathed. As much as she was loathe to
stop him, she knew this wasn't fair.

"Mmm-hmmm?" he asked sending another wave through her.

"Wh-why d-don't you put some m-music on?" she panted
out.

He pulled back and grinned, his eyes flashing.

"Please?" she said with a smile.

"All right, love," he said with another kiss. He
released her and strode to the living room.

Willow desperately grabbed the edge of the table, sure
her knees would give out.

She had to do something and fast. As much as she
wanted, really, really wanted to keep this up, it
wasn't right. She'd cheated, and it had to end.

She knew she had to undo the spell, but it wouldn't be
retroactive, so she'd have to drink to catch up. She
mumbled a few words and grabbed the bottle. Holding
her nose she chugged down as much as she could.

She heard the driving strains of a guitar come from
the living room. Loud.

"What's that?" she asked

"Zepplin Four," he said with a grin. "Don't you like
it?"

"It's nice," she said wincing at the volume. "I was
kind of thinking of something a little more--- less."

"Oh." He frowned and knelt down again. She quickly
took another long drink as soon as he turned back to the
stereo.

"Ah!" he said pulling out another album. The supple
pulse of Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get It On" filtered into the room.
"Better?" he asked from his knees.

Willow nodded. Was it getting hot in here? Her legs
carried her over to where Giles now stood. He held his
hands out to her and pulled her slowly to his body.
His hips rubbed against hers, swaying in time with the
sensual rhythm. 'Oh, Goddess,' she thought.

(I've been really tryin', baby
Tryin' to hold back these feelings for so long
And if you feel, like I feel baby
Come on, oh come on,

Let's get it on
Lets get it on---)

Maybe it was the alcohol, or maybe it was the music,
or maybe it was the hard press of his growing erection
against her abdomen, but Willow was starting to feel
dizzy. She leaned her head on his chest and let him
control their movements. She idly felt his hands
slowly rubbing up and down her back. With each pass
they went lower and lower until he swept them along
her the soft curve of her ass and then up again.

(We're all sensitive people
With so much love to give, understand me sugar
Since we got to be
Let's say I love you

There's nothin' wrong with me
Lovin' you---
And givin' yourself to me can never be wrong
If the love is true---)

The erotic message of the music was lulling her
deeper into the alcoholic haze. She tried hard to
stay awake. She didn't want to miss a minute of this
time with Giles. She looked up at him, tilting her
head back. Giles gazed down at her, his eyes dark and
smoky. He leaned down just as her head fell backwards.

"Willow?" he asked shaking her. "Passed out, did ya
love?" He sighed and scooped her into his arms. He
glanced at the stairs and let out a long breath.

He sat down on the couch, cradling her in his lap. He
caressed her hair and bent forward for one last kiss.
He smiled and leaned his head back against the sofa,
enjoying the feel of her in his arms as sleep claimed
him.

*****

"Knock, knock," Buffy said tentatively as she pushed
the door open. "This was such a stupid idea," she
muttered to herself as she heard the scratching of the
record player and went to turn it off. She froze at
the sight before her.

Willow was asleep, snuggled in Giles' arms. Both of
them had dreamy smiles on their faces. She grinned.
"Well, maybe not so stupid after all." She paused and
her grin grew wider. "But I wonder which lesson she
learned?" She put the record back on and quietly
left the two to face the morning alone.

The End