 |
Title: A Mile In His Moccasins 4/26 When Buffy came to a little while later, she couldn't believe how much her head hurt. Or how tired she felt. She raised one hand to her forehead and was surprised to find so little hair there. 'Great,' she thought, 'that beastie fried my follicles.' Then she realized there was some object on her face that shouldn't be there. She felt around, still keeping her eyes closed, and found it was a pair of glasses. She pulled them off and sat up. About a second later, she lay down again because her head was spinning. When it stopped, she opened her eyes carefully. Everything was fuzzy. Really fuzzy. And everything felt too big. She let out a groan, surprised at how low the sound came out. The next thing she knew there was a face bending over her and a tiny hand expertly checking her pulse. "It's okay, Buffy. Just lie still a moment." She knew the voice. She'd heard it before. If only things would stop being so blurred, she'd be able to see who she was talking to. Her companion was female and small and had shortish blondish hair. The voice was talking again. She did her best to concentrate. When would Slayer healing kick in? "I know this is a bit of a shock, but we'll find a way to sort this out, I promise. Can you try to sit up?" "What happened? Who are you? And what happened to my voice?" "It was the demon, Buffy. Why the hell didn't you listen? You just had to attack without thinking, didn't you?" "It hurt Giles. Is he okay?" She brought her hand up to her face again and was startled to see how large it suddenly was. She turned it over to look at the ring on the little finger. It was gold with a square cabochon of black onyx. Looking further up her arm, she saw it was encased in a leather jacket that she knew as well as anything in her own wardrobe. Her brain shut down as she stared. "Here," the woman said. "Put these on and it'll be a bit better." Buffy accepted the glasses numbly. When they were on, her vision was much better, but nowhere near what she was used to with enhanced Slayer night vision. She looked at the woman. "That's my body. Who are you and what are you doing in it?" "Borrowing it while you're in mine, it would seem." "Giles?" ***** Somehow the pair made it back to Buffy's house without meeting up with either more demons or anyone they knew. When they got to the door, Giles stood waiting while Buffy rummaged in her pockets for her key. It took both of them a minute to realize what a fruitless task that was. She looked pointedly at Giles. He looked back, confused, then realized the key to the door would be in his care since he was now in Buffy's body. He fished around in her jacket pockets until he came up with the key, then unlocked the door. Once inside, Giles made tea while Buffy paced the living room. Occasionally she would rub her forehead. "Giles?" she called to the kitchen. "Yes, Buffy?" her own voice floated out. "Could you bring me a few dozen Tylenol with that tea? Your head's splitting." "That's what it's like when I get knocked out." "And does your back always feel like this?" "Like what?" "Sore and stiff. Is it always like that?" "Not always," Giles said as he carried the tea tray to the living room and set it on the coffee table with an extra hard thump. "Oh dear. I must remember these things are much closer now I'm so short. Anyway, my back feels like misery because I've been on a very long flight and I've been knocked down twice in less than twenty-four hours. Frankly, I'm relieved it's someone else's problem for the moment. Your back feels just fine." "Great. So you gonna give it back to me anytime soon? And don't make short jokes while you're me. It's mean." "It wasn't a joke; it was an observation." "Fine, quit with the observations, already. And you didn't answer my question." "I will be delighted to get back into my own skin at the first possible opportunity. Unfortunately, I have no idea how that is to be done." "So we research." "We can go to the Magic Box in the morning." "But what do we do tonight? Why can't we research now?" "Buffy, take a look in the mirror. You're in no shape to do any effective research right now. You're in a body that has crossed several time zones and been rendered unconscious twice today. Give it a rest." He rummaged in his suitcase and handed her a bottle of pills from it. She peered at the label curiously. "What are these?" "Allergy medication. You'll need to take one of those every day or you'll spend the whole bloody day sneezing my brains out." "What're you allergic to?" "Buffy, please. Just take the pills and don't concern yourself with the rest. Now are you taking any medication I should know about?" "Nope. My body's the picture of health." "Lucky you." "Yeah. Lucky me. Giles, what are we gonna do? I don't want to be you and you certainly don't want to be me." "For now, I suggest we get some sleep. It's late, and my body has been through a lot today. And yours...needs another shower." Buffy's eyes widened. "Oh no you don't, Giles! You can't!" "Buffy, I know what the female body looks like." "But - but that's my female body! I don't want you to see it naked." "I'm not precisely eager to have you see mine, either, but I don't see how it's to be avoided and adequate personal hygiene maintained." Buffy sighed and sat heavily on the sofa. Giles reached for his nose and swore under his breath when he found nothing there. Without a word, Buffy removed his glasses, pulled a handkerchief from her pocket, and handed them to Giles. "Go ahead. You'll feel better." He took them, polished the lenses, began to replace them on his face, swore again, and handed them back to Buffy. "Maybe you could get some sunglasses until you get your bod back." "I may just do that." ***** An hour later, the pair were still sitting on the sofa, sipping tea and trying to decide what to do next. They were rapidly coming to no conclusion at all. Buffy squirmed uncomfortably. "What is it now?" Giles snapped. "I - you - well, this body needs to go to the bathroom." "Then go." "But Giles..." "We're both going to have to deal with that aspect of things eventually." "I know, but I was hoping it would be a little longer before we had to." "Then you shouldn't have had four cups of tea." "Y'know, if I didn't have to go so bad, I'd come up with a really great answer to that." Buffy stood and hurried up the stairs to the bathroom. Once inside with the door locked, she hesitated again. She wasn't really sure how this worked. "Don't look, Buff," she muttered to herself as she carefully undid the unfashionable wool trousers. Underneath, there was a pair of cotton boxer shorts. Underneath that was the thing she'd never wanted to think about Giles having. A penis. And a scrotum. And all that...guy stuff. She looked up at the ceiling (which was way too close for comfort now), turned around, pulled down all the cloth, and sat as quickly as she could. It seemed to take forever before she hit the toilet seat with a thump. "When did your legs get so long, Giles?" she muttered. She stared resolutely at the opposite wall while she dealt with the situation. Everything felt wrong. She wanted her own body back. "That's sorta ironic, isn't it?" she mused. "But at least I was used to it." When she was finished, she reached for some toilet paper and shuddered slightly at the thought that she would have to touch Giles' privates. Still, there was nothing for it. She fished around blindly between the surprisingly well-formed thighs to find what she needed to deal with. When she'd finished wiping the end, she couldn't help looking. It seemed very long. "Holy moley, Batman!" *****
|
