Title: - England 1/?
Author: - Riley
Rating: - Not sure yet.
Genre: - Humour. Romance.
Pairings: - Jenny/Giles.
Disclaimer: - I do not own anything relating to Buffy the Vampire Slayer and I
do not mean to infringe on any copyrights. I am not making any money from this.
Any original ideas however are mine.
Note: - This is for Mel and is in response to her challenge on Ms. Calendar's
Group, which was to write a fic in which Giles travels with Jenny to England.
The British Airways aeroplane touched down at Heathrow airport. Jenny was impatient to get off the plane and start her exploring. She had a long list of places she wanted to visit, starting with Buckingham Palace. They were spending two days in the city of London and then were going to the countryside where Giles had grown up.
After Jenny and Giles had collected their luggage, Giles started to lead them towards the underground. Seeing the sign, Jenny halted, "We're taking the subway?"
"Yes."
"Can't we take a cab?"
"We could, but believe me, the tube is much quicker than a taxi, not to mention a considerable amount cheaper. A taxi would only get stuck in the traffic. And if you want to see some sights today, I suggest we save all the time we can."
"The subway it is then, England."
Giles bought the tickets and Jenny followed him to the platform. "Not seeing much difference between the two countries so far."
"Well airports and undergrounds are very much the same anywhere really."
They boarded the tube, Giles helping Jenny to haul her suitcase onboard. Jenny looked around for a seat. "It's packed. Guess we'll have to stand."
"There's a seat over there." Giles pointed to the last empty seat, and tried to usher Jenny over to it before anyone else could claim it. "Give me your case, and I'll stay here with them."
"No. I can stand. It's my case and I can manage it." Jenny told herself that she wasn't about to sit when he had to stand. But the main truth was, she was a little worried about getting seperated from him in the crowd. She'd never been to England before, let alone London, and had no idea where she was going. Without him, she'd be totally lost in a foreign land.
"Very well."
An annoucement of, "Please mind the doors," was given before the doors closed and the tube rattled off.
Holding on to a green pole for balance, Jenny asked eagerly, "Can we go and see Buckingham Palace today?"
"Yes, I don't see why not."
"Great. Which stop do we get off at for it?"
"Jenny, wouldn't you rather drop our suitcases off at the hotel first?"
"Oh! Yeah, right. But after that, we can go?"
"Yes, we can go there." He had an amused smile on his face at her enthusiasm and his tone was slightly mocking.
Too excited to be curbed by his amusement at her, she gave a firm, "Good. I've got my camera ready." Giles briefly tilted his eyes skywards. An announcement came on and Jenny strained to understand what was said. "What the hell was that supposed to mean?"
"He was just announcing which station was next."
"Oh. And the English translation is when?"
"That was in English."
"Was not! Sounded gibberish to me."
"You've just encounted your first English colloquial accent. That was cockney." Jenny snorted and forced down a laugh. "What do you find so funny?"
"Oh nothing. Just my American sense of humour. The 'cockney' just brought to mind visions of a certain part of the male anatomy." She grinned at him and let her gaze wander to his nether regions.
Giles rolled his eyes. "Americans!"
The tube came to a halt at the station and both Jenny and Giles instinctively put a spare hand out to steady the other. It was getting stiflingly hot and Giles took this opportunity to quickly mop his brow with his handkerchief. When the tube started up again, the welcome rush of cold air was back.
At the next station, the announcer was back on again. "Please mind the gap."
The following station had a slight variation as the announcer warned, "Please mind the step." And the warning at the next three stations was a monotonous, "Please mind the gap."
"God! I swear if he says that one more time I'm gonna scream." Jenny joked.
"Yes, it does get rather irritating doesn't it!"
When at the next station the announcement began, "Please mind," Jenny finished sarcastically with, "the gap." However the announcer finished with, "the gap and the step."
"I believe he's progressed on to both now, Jenny." Giles smiled wryly at her.
When they got off the tube, Giles offered to carry Jenny's suitcase for her. "Nah, I can manage."
"As you wish." He led her along the platform towards some extremely steep stairs. He couldn't help but smile at the expression on her face as she stared up them.
"Where's the elevator?"
"There is none."
"Okay, where's the lift, as you guys call it here?"
"There is neither an elevator nor a lift, just the stairs."
"You're joking! You mean we have to drag our suitcases up there!"
"I'm afraid so, yes."
"But I thought that the tube was recommended for people getting into the city from the airport? Why don't they cater for the damn suitcases?"
"I have no idea. Would you like me to er, carry your suitcase up?"
Jenny debated this for a moment. The thought of hauling it up there was not pleasant, but she was an American woman, and thus could very well manage it herself. "No thanks, I can do it."
Giles looked at her a little skeptically. "Are you sure? I don't mind."
"I can do it."
"All right then. Upwards and onwards."
Giles reached the top of the stairs with his suitcase, and looked down to see Jenny only a quarter of the way up, struggling to heft hers up the steep stairs. Shaking his head, he left his suitcase at the top and jogged down to her. "Here, let me!" He tried to take the handle from her, but she tugged it away.
"I can manage." She tried to lift it up onto the next step and losing her balance with the weight, nearly toppled backwards down the stairs. Giles caught her before she could fall, steadying her and the suitcase.
"Jenny don't be so stubborn. Please give me your suitcase and go up there to mine and make sure nobody steals it."
Sulking a little, Jenny gave way, and trudged up the stairs, muttering, "I am not stubborn!" A guy was loitering near Giles' suitcase when Jenny got there. In a mood, she gave him a look that sent the prospective thief quickly walking away. Arms crossed, Jenny watched as Rupert tried to haul her suitcase up to the top of the stairs. It took him a considerably lot longer than it did to carry his own up. When he got to the top he was red-faced and sweating. Jenny stood there grinning at him. "Have trouble did you!"
He took his handkerchief out and mopped at his brow. "Bloody hell woman! What've you got in there? That weighs twice as much as mine."
Jenny reached for her suitcase, but Giles beat her to it. "Why don't you carry mine and I'll carry yours Jenny!"
"You just said mine was too heavy," Jenny pointed out.
"Yes, hence my offer to carry it. I don't want you pulling something and spending your trip here in the hospital." When he saw that she was about to protest, he looked at her pleadingly. "Please Jenny, just humour me. Call it, good old British etiquette. A gentleman helping a lady."
"Okay. But don't pull your back out."
"I assure you that isn't on my list of things to do during this trip. Besides, hospitals are rather the same anywhere. It wouldn't be much of a culture experience for you."
They carried their cases out of the underground and across the street to their hotel.