I'm vanishing for four or five days, spending some time with Emily and then taking her back down to Missouri for the next semester of college. Since I haven't had time to write much fanfic lately, I thought I'd leave you with a little tale that I'd like to dedicate to my friends in Great Britain -- especially jaded_jamie. See you soon!

Title: An Icy Reception
Author: Ozma914

Summary: Post-Chosen: Giles catches members of the new Watcher's Council in the act of something truly horrible. Well, to him.

Rating: G
Warnings: general silliness
Length: 275 words
Disclaimer: I own nothing, but will gladly take anything given to me.

Characters: Giles, Xander, Robin, Andrew


Giles froze at the door to the conference room. “What the devil --?” A teacup slipped from his numb fingers, spilling its contents across the carpeted floor.

Three men huddled around the paper-strewn table, eyes wide in the classic deer in the headlights look. “We thought you went to Cleveland!” Andrew squeaked.

“My flight was snowed in.” Eyes narrowed, Giles advanced into the room. “What is this? I leave you alone for two days, and I come back to this?”

“What?” Robin asked, glancing back and forth between Andrew and Xander. “We’re just going through activity reports.”

But Xander and Andrew had both frozen, their arms extended out, caught in the middle of trying to hide something.

“This –“ Giles’ face reddened. He whipped off his glasses, forgetting to clean them in his agitation, but unwilling to see any more. “This is an abomination! This is evil, in its purest, most vile form!”

“It’s not that bad –“ Andrew tried to protest, but Xander reached out to grab the other watcher’s arm.

“Time for shutting up,” Xander murmured, and when Andrew looked into Giles’ eyes again he did exactly that.

“I want it out of here.” Giles jerked a thumb backward, in the general direction of out. “I knew it was a mistake to relocate in the States. You have no decorum, no sense of decency or taste. I want it all out! Never again sully our hallways with that – that – shite!”

After a short, tense silence, Robin shook his head. “I don’t understand. It’s only iced tea.”

But Giles was already halfway out the door, storming his way toward the kitchen. “Bloody Colonials!”



Oh, and I've received two more nominations over at the Running With Scissors Award site! "Today a Hero" was nominated for Best Short, and "To Start the Day" was nominated for -- get this -- Best Twinkie. That's, um, stories between 500-1,000 words. Honest. :-> The website, and a whole bunch of great stories, are here:
http://community.livejournal.com/rwsawards/