Title: Five Gold Rings 4/5
Author: Magpie and Wolfling
Email: magpie@moracle.co.uk and wolfling@sympatico.ca
Show: Buffy
Rating: NC-17
Category: angst, hurt/comfort
Warnings: spoilers up to the end of Chosen
Pairings: Giles/Ethan
Series: Of Old Mystics, takes place between chapters 17 and 18 of Charades
Summary: On the fifthe day of Christmas...

Author Notes: Many thanks to Mad Poetess and Wesleysgirl for betaing :) This was written for Kindkit during the Secret Slasha writing challenge in December and takes place during Charades, the fourth story in the Of Old Mystics series; that and previous stories in the series can be found at
http://www.myarseisnotpansy.co.uk/piedm/mystics.html.

Tuesday 23^rd December

Giles sat in his chair in the living room, drink at his hand, faithful dog curled up at his feet... and several inches of reports he had to get through before the next Council meeting in front of him.

He heard Ethan, who was curled on the sofa reading a novel, stirring restlessly. "It's Christmas Eve Eve," his lover pointed out.

"I'm not sure that's an official designation," Giles replied absently, glancing up for a moment before going back to his reports.

"It's the third day of Yule," Ethan insisted. "Saturnalia. The Romans would have been knee deep in orgies and vomit by now."

"Now isn't that a pleasant image?" Giles murmured dryly.

"It sounds a lot more fun than Council reports. If I make it worth your while, will you put them away?"

Giles looked up again. "How would you make it worth my while?" he asked, although he really shouldn't put these reports off.

Ethan smiled. "I could give you today's Christmas present."

"I thought that breakfast in bed this morning was today's present."

"Come now, Rupert," Ethan said, smirking just a little. "Since when have my plans *ever* been that unadventurous?" He stood up and walked towards the drinks cabinet near the study door.

Curious now, Giles put aside his papers and got up, stepping over Gwydion and moving to join Ethan. "All right. You have my attention."

Ethan stood where he was and cupped Giles' face between his fingers. "Close your eyes," he said, before kissing him.

Giles obeyed. "I wouldn't do this for just anyone, you know."

"Well, I certainly hope not," Ethan agreed, pressing another kiss on Giles' mouth.

"It's a very short list."

"Of one, I fervently insist." Giles felt Ethan's hands slide down his back to cup his arse, fingernails digging in.

"So I'm just closing my eyes so you can feel me up?" Giles asked, smiling.

"Is that such a terrible thing?" Ethan asked rather archly. He rubbed against Giles, pulling their lower bodies close together. "One day, you'll have to let me blindfold you while I have my wicked way."

"That could be... intriguing." It wasn't something they'd tried before; not with him the one wearing the blindfold at least.

"Just imagine it, Rupert," Ethan whispered in his ear seductively. "Not knowing where I'm going to touch next. Will it be a gentle caress or a cruel nip, a lick of my tongue or a scrape of teeth? Do you trust me enough to give up control to that extent, dearheart?"

With anyone else the answer would have been an emphatic 'no.' Giving up control was never easy for Giles, but with Ethan it was different. "I trust you with everything I am."

Ethan's quiet chuckle by Giles' ear was clearly not meant to be reassuring, and it sent a little shiver through him. It made no difference to his sentiments, however. Ethan said in a low voice, "We'll have to see what we can do about that then," and pulled back. "For now, just keep them closed a little longer."

"So it's not to be ravishment then?" Giles teased.

"Perhaps later. Hold out your hands." Giles heard Ethan open the cabinet and the scrape of glass upon wood. Then something long and thin and a little more lightweight than he was for some reason expecting was placed into his waiting hands.

"Can I open my eyes now?"

"Yes, open them. And come back to the couch."

Giles did so, glancing down at what he was holding. The gift was, as he had felt, slender and wrapped in red silk with a green ribbon tied around it. "Very... festive," he commented, as he crossed over to the sofa and sat down.

Ethan said nothing as he sat down beside Giles, reaching forward to pinch a succulent cube of Turkish delight between his fingers from the box on the table. He ate it, then licked his fingertips, as he watched Giles unwrap. The ribbon came undone easily, and the silk fell away to reveal...

A pen.

It looked expensive, sleek silver and black with his initials monogrammed on the clip. But there was more to it than met his eye, Giles was sure. Normally pens weren't so charged with magic that they practically vibrated under his touch.

Ethan was smiling smugly at him from under his brow. "Nice?"

"Yes." Giles looked at his lover. "What exactly does it do? Other than write?"

"Do?" Ethan asked with a raised eyebrow. "Why would a pen do anything but write? Of course, you could always try the command, 'Auram', but make sure you're holding away from the nib when you do."

Shifting his grip down to the base of the pen, Giles obligingly repeated, "Auram."

The magical vibration intensified, and Giles could feel the pen slither and melt under his hand, solidifying again into the form of a stiletto dagger. Black and silver like the pen, the handle fit comfortably in his hand, while the point looked lethal.

"It's steel with a central band of blessed silver," Ethan said casually.

Which was damned expensive and hard to come by, even without the magical camouflage; Giles found himself treating the stiletto with more reverence with that knowledge. "This may come in handy during Council meetings," he joked, looking up at Ethan and letting his lover see his gratitude. "Thank you."

"I've not finished yet." Ethan was clearly pleased with the reaction. "You might want to try the other three elements. But, um, might be best to not be holding it when you call for 'Terram'."

Lifting an eyebrow, Giles set the stiletto down on the coffee table before saying, "Terram."

The knife wavered and melted, morphing into a hemisphere of black stone shot with silver. It looked like nothing much more than a fancy paperweight. "Try to pick it up," Ethan suggested.

Giles did so, already suspecting he wouldn't be able to shift it, and indeed he couldn't. "Lodestone?"

Ethan grinned and nodded. "It's attuned only to you, dearheart. No one else can make it change."

"My own magical equivalent of a Swiss army knife." It really was quite an enticing gift. Feeling much like a child with a new toy, Giles tried another element. "Ignem."

The stone rippled and extended and then a bright white illumination filled the room. The item was now a jet wand tipped with a ball of magical light. "You could say I cashed in my nest egg to get this made for you," Ethan told him.

Giles looked questioning at Ethan as he picked up the wand, wondering what such a nest egg would have consisted of, and if he should be feeling guilty that Ethan would use such to get a gift for him.

"There's someone who owed me a big favour from a long time ago," his lover explained. "I was saving the favour for a rainy day, and it seemed to me one particular grey day in November that the rainy day had come." He smiled at Giles and offered, "But I did the attunement myself."

"Yes, I can sense your magic," Giles said, returning the smile, leaning over to kiss Ethan. "It's a wonderful gift, thank you."

Ethan returned the kiss briefly. "Aquam returns it to the pen form, obviously. Do you really like it?"

"I do." He murmured "aquam," transforming it back to the pen and sliding it into his shirt pocket under his sweater. "Hopefully it will be the pen that I get the most use out of, but I'm sure all the shifts will come in handy."

Ethan shifted uneasily on the seat. When Giles glanced over, he saw Ethan was frowning, although the expression was quickly forced into an uncertain smile as Ethan reacted to the attention.

"Something on your mind, love?" Giles asked, tugging on Ethan's arm to pull him closer.

"No, nothing," Ethan replied quickly. He twisted to the side and wrapped an arm around Giles.

"Nothing?"

"Nothing that matters. Would you like some mulled wine? I think I can make some that's almost palatable now."

"Wine would be lovely," Giles admitted, but merely tightened his hold on Ethan. "As soon as you tell me what the nothing was."

There was a long moment's silence. Ethan fidgeted and huffed, but Giles just held him, waiting patiently. Then, "I'm not very practised at giving presents."

"And that bothers you?"

"They possibly take on more significance than they should for me," Ethan admitted grudgingly

"I don't know if there's such a thing as too much significance when it comes to gifts for loved ones." Giles brushed a finger against the ring on Ethan's left hand; certainly that had been a gift with depths of significance. Ethan didn't say anything, and there was nothing about his body posture to suggest his lover was feeling more encouraged. "They certainly have significance to me," Giles continued, running a hand lightly over Ethan's back.

Gwydion stirred on the floor, stood up and shook, before padding off to the kitchen. Ethan played his fingers about on Giles' sweater. "Well, you liked the flying lesson, and that was... gratifying."

Giles smiled. "Liked would be far too mild a word." He paused, a sudden insight striking him. "Ethan, do you think I don't like the pen?"

"It's too flashy," Ethan replied, his tone brusque and dismissive. "Just a gadget really. It wasn't special enough. Not sufficiently personal."

"Not sufficiently perso--" Giles echoed, then pulled back enough to meet Ethan's eyes. "Love, what could be more personal than a custom made item that you attuned solely to me with your own magic?"

Ethan wouldn't meet his eyes. "Maybe it will grow on you in time."

"Ethan." He slid a hand under Ethan's chin, making him look up. "It doesn't have to grow on me. Liked would be too mild a word here as well."

Ethan's head may have been raised, but his eyes still looked anywhere but into Giles'. "I'm being quite idiotic, dearheart. May I go and mull the wine now?"

Giles didn't let him go. "What do I have to do to make you believe me?"

Slumping and sighing, Ethan admitted, "I don't know. I just don't feel it."

"I suppose I could shag the belief into you..."

Ethan seemed to perk up slightly. "I'm unlikely to refuse."

"Or," Giles began, as an idea struck him, "maybe I could serenade you?" He knew how much Ethan liked his singing after all, and sometimes it was easier to get emotions across when using someone else's words.

And now Ethan grinned, his whole face appeared to brighten with a warm glow. "If you wassail me really well, I might even have a penny or two to give you." He giggled. "Let me mull the wine for the full experience?"

"All right. It'll give me a chance to make sure the guitar is in tune." But Giles pulled Ethan back as he started to get up and kissed him lingeringly. "You could give me anything, and I would treasure it because it's from you."

Ethan nodded. "So for your birthday, I'll just buy you a pint then?" Smiling, he pressed one more kiss on Giles, then got up and headed out to the kitchen.

"As long as I don't wake up the type of horny I did the last time you bought me a pint," Giles called after him, teasingly.

"I don't recall paying that particular tab, you know, dearheart," Ethan replied, sticking his head back out through the kitchen door.

"Really?" Giles got up and retrieved his guitar from its place in the corner of the room. "Neither do I. Did we stiff them?"

"Quite possibly. I was somewhat distracted at the time, having just been invited back to yours."

"And that wasn't what you were angling for all along?" Giles sighed. "I suppose it's all moot now anyway, as that particular establishment was destroyed along with the rest of Sunnydale."

"Cheery, Rupert. Very seasonal." Ethan went back into the kitchen, and Giles heard various noises to suggest his lover was attempting something that could just about be considered cookery.

"Try not to burn the kitchen down, love," he called out, sitting back down and starting to tune his guitar.

There was, fortunately, no cry of dismay or smell of smoke, and Ethan reappeared quite quickly with two gently steaming mugs of spiced wine, the smell of cinnamon and nutmeg prevalent. However, as he sat back down after placing the mugs on the coffee table, Ethan raised two of his fingers to his mouth and sucked absently on them.

"I see I'll have to add trying not to burn yourself to the list as well," Giles observed wryly.

Removing his fingers from his mouth with a little wet noise, Ethan gave Giles a wry look. "Drink or sing -- they are your only options currently."

"Yes, dear. Do you have any requests?"

"Well, not Christmas carols. I haven't changed *that* much. How about something you used to sing, way back when." He snorted very softly as he bent to pick up a mug. "When I couldn't relax enough to sleep."

There was one song that came to Giles' mind, one that Ethan had particularly latched onto so many years ago. The lyrics seemed even more appropriate for them now. Smiling, Giles played the opening chords and then sang. "I'll be your mirror; reflect what you are in case you don’t know."

As Giles worked his way through the Velvet Underground classic, closing his eyes occasionally to help concentrate on the words, Ethan slipped from the sofa to sit at his feet. He was sucking on his fingers again, but all his avid attention was on Giles, at whom he was staring as if a child transfixed by the face of Jesus. He wrapped his arms around one of Giles' legs.

"Please put down your hands 'cause I see you. I’ll be your mirror." With that last chorus, Giles finished the song and put the guitar to one side.

Ethan rested his cheek on Giles' knee and was quiet a long time. Giles combed his fingers through his lover's hair, letting him be silent for as long as he needed to be.

Finally, Ethan stirred and looked up at him, his expression very serious. "I think I understand a lot better now." He pressed his lips to Giles' knee. "About gifts. About what really matters."

NEXT