Wesley fiddled with his pen.

He shifted in his chair.

When he began drumming his fingers on the table in the living room, Giles felt obliged to slam his hand down on top of the other Watcher's.

Wesley drew the wounded hand back to his chest, and stared at Giles.

"Sorry," Giles said, not sounding the least bit apologetic.

"Did I do something to annoy you? Again?" Wyndham-Price asked pointedly.

Sighing inwardly, Giles was forced to admit to himself that his temper had grown short the last few days. Every little quirk of Wesley's was getting on his nerves.

Moving in with him was definitely not the best idea. After his condo was smoke damaged by a fire in the building, he should have gone to a hotel. Wesley had argued, and Buffy, of all people, had agreed, that it would be more convenient if her Watchers were close at hand if she needed them. Wesley's house was much closer to the University dorm anyway. They used his back yard and basement for training and there was plenty of room in the aptly named library to store all of the books in their possession.

Giles fully intended to move back into his own home as soon as the renovations were complete. And order shall be restored, he thought.

"Do you realize that we've done nothing since the beginning of August except research?" he asked the younger man.

"Yes."

Giles frowned. "Doesn't that bother you?"

Clearly puzzled by the question, Wesley replied, "I...uh, no?"

"Well, it bothers me." Getting up to pace, Giles stretched his back muscles. "We have spent a good half of the summer doing sod all. I'm sick of it. The vampires have been less prevalent than usual this summer, Buffy barely needs to patrol anymore, and there have been no portents of trouble."

"That's good, isn't it? Still, we need to be prepared."

"I think we've prepared enough to do us for a while. I'm taking the weekend off."

"Oh?" Worry crept into Wesley's voice.

"Yes." Giles regarded his fellow Watcher -- his fellow ex-Watcher -- with intent. "Do you know what we need?"

"No?" it was said almost timidly.

"We need to go out on the town, have a good time. We need to go out on a date."

Alarmed, Wesley said, "Oh! I, um, I don't think...that wouldn't be appropriate."

"Why on earth not?"

"Um, you and...well, I..." as he fumbled for an answer, Giles understood what he was getting at and laughed.

"I wasn't asking you to date me," he tried and failed to keep the grin off his face.

"Oh!" Wesley's embarrassment grew acute. "I..."

Taking pity, Giles explained. "I meant we double date. I'll call Erykah in Los Angeles and see if she's free tonight. She can drive up. When she was here last month she mentioned a friend of hers that she thought you might like to meet."

"She did?" Clearly interested, Wesley perked up. "A friend?"

"Yes. Are you game?"

"Oh. I, well, yes. I s-suppose so..."

"Good. I'll call Erykah."

Wesley looked terrified despite his willingness to go on a blind date.

"Relax, man. It'll be good to get out and have some fun in the company of lovely ladies."

"If you say so."

"That's the spirit!"

The doorbell rang just as Giles was pulling the pantlegs of his dressy black jeans over the tops of his ankle high boots. He glanced toward the stairs, but there was no sign of Wesley as yet. He opened the door. Erykah stepped inside and gave Giles a quick kiss on the lips as she passed.

"Hullo, Rupe." She was nearly as tall as he. Her cafe au lait skin glowed over her finely tuned muscles. An athlete by habit, a bounty hunter by trade, she moved like a cat. A highly confident cat.

"Hullo, luv," he greeted her, looking past her at the other woman following through the doorway.

"This is Zoey, this is Rupert," came the introduction from Erykah in the living room.

Giles smiled at Zoey. She was of average height with big blue eyes under a frazzle of curly auburn bangs. She said hello in a breathy little girl's voice. She didn't look like a little girl. She was very curvy, and the tight black dress she wore showed her figure off to excellent advantage. Giles forced himself to look her in the eyes.

She was perfect for Wesley. He could tell right off. Now, if only he could get Wyndham-Price in the same room with the woman they'd have a chance at making the date work.

He offered them drinks which they refused, told them to make themselves at home, and went upstairs to see what was keeping the other man.

The door to Wes's bedroom was open, so he rapped once on the door and walked in.

Wesley wore one of his nattiest Saville Row suits. "Giles, tell me -- should I wear the blue tie or the mauve?"

Frowning, Giles took both out of his hands and threw them onto the bed. Wesley's head turned to follow the ties as they sailed through the air.

"I say..."

"Don't say anything. Not a word." Going to the closet, Giles shoved suits, suits, and more suits across the bar, hangers scraping and screeching as he did so. "Doesn't he have anything besides suits?" he mumbled to himself. It crossed his mind briefly that he was once nearly as bad, only his suits weren't nearly as expensive as these. He paused to finger the lapel of one in particular then continued through the wardrobe. He gave up and turned around.

"Well?"

Wesley merely glared at him with one raised eyebrow; for once his mouth was closed.

"Speak, man, speak."

"A gentleman should always look his best," was the answer.

Giles stared. "Bloody hell," he muttered and strode out of the room. Taking the second flight of stairs two at a time, he went up to his room, pawed through his closet and dresser drawers, then returned to Wesley's room with an armful of clothing.

"We're almost the same size. Might be a bit of a problem with the height, but some of these will fit, I'm sure." He thrust them at Wesley who stood looking at the clothes in his arms in horror.

"Surely you don't expect me to wear...casual clothing?" his voice dropped to a whisper.

His patience all but gone, Giles took the clothes from Wesley, picked a shirt and trousers, dumped the rest on the bed, then yanked the suit jacket off Wesley's shoulders and down his arms.

"I say!"

"Yes, you do. A lot. Get undressed and put these on or I'll dress you myself." When Wesley opened his mouth to protest again, Giles leaned in very closely and said darkly, "The ladies are here. They are waiting. Zoey is anxious to meet you, and Erykah and I are anxious to greet each other properly. Get. Dressed. Now."

He strode back out. A beat later, he was back. Wesley remained motionless in the centre of the room. "Now!"

Wesley scrambled to obey. Giles went downstairs.

Excusing themselves to Zoey, Giles and Erykah went into the kitchen and closed the door. Taking her into his arms, Giles proceeded to kiss Erykah senseless.

When he let her up for air, she asked, "What is he wearing tonight? Is he wearing a suit?"

Looking askance, disappointed that she hadn't been kissed senseless, Giles said, "He was. I scared him out of it. Why is it so important that we dress casually tonight?"

"Zoey's request. She's a little shy and men in suits intimidate her. I have no idea why. I told her Wesley is harmless, but she was incredibly nervous about meeting him - - blind date and all. This way they'll be on more equal footing. How is he taking it?"

Giles was engaged in sucking on her left ear lobe. "Remarkably well. He seems to have gained a bit of confidence lately. I think he'll like Zoey."

"How would you know?" Erykah laughed, grabbing a handful of his hair to get his attention. "You've hardly said hello to her yourself. You don't even know her."

"Am I wrong?"

"Well," she smiled, sliding her arms around his neck and molding her body against his, "Actually, I agree with you."

"There. You see? You have good judgement. That's what I based my guess on." They exchanged a long kiss and then another one. When they broke apart, he asked, "Where do you know her from?"

"She's my new secretary. My Girl Friday, actually, for lack of a non-sexist term. She's really quite sweet." She stood there smiling at him.

"What is it?"

"I just like looking at you."

He wrapped his arms around her waist and held her close. Erykah rested her chin on his shoulder while Giles pressed his cheek against her hair. He tightened his hold for a moment then released her.

"We'd better go back out and make sure Zoey's all right."

It only took him fifteen minutes. Not bad for Wesley, but close to an eternity all the same.

He came downstairs moving awkwardly as if the foreign clothes had thrown off his balance. Giles' critical eye gave him the once over and pronounced him a success. The man could wear clothes. Even those of the dreaded casual kind. Rupert's dark blue polo shirt and slacks looked good on the other man. He'd even found some rubber-soled shoes of black suede somewhere. Giles had a pair just like them. He took a second look. Those *were* his shoes. The blighter had gone into his closet on his own.

Erykah rose to greet Wesley. Giles bit back a smile. A natural hunter, she had an unerring instinct for seeking out the uncertain ones and going straight for the kill. In this case, the kill consisted of a prolonged kiss on the side of Wesley's mouth and he promptly wobbled. He caught himself on the back of the couch.

"Wesley," she said in her throaty purr, "this is Zoey."

She and Giles both watched to see what would happen. Wesley surprised them. Ever the gentleman, he merely took Zoey's hand, gazed coolly into her eyes and said a few words about how pleased he was to meet her. Zoey giggled.

Giles refrained from rolling his eyes. She might be a friend of Erykah's, but first impressions made her out to be a ditz. He'd tried and failed to draw her out in conversation before Wesley's arrival. Shy or not, she was a bit...odd.

Wesley's careful expression of cool civility crumbled. His eyebrows climbed and he leaned forward, achieving a point where anyone else would have overbalanced and fallen flat on their face. The smile he sent to Zoey was slightly goofy. It was obvious by the glazed look in his eyes. He was enchanted.

Giles met Erykah's gaze. Her emerald eyes grew wider and she grinned at him.

A match!

"We have reservations," Giles announced, pulling on his leather jacket. "Wesley?"

"Hmmm? Oh. Yes." He offered his arm to Zoey who giggled again, and they followed Giles and Erykah out the door. Just before the door closed, Zoey giggled one more time and Wesley giggled with her.

~ end part one ~