Title: Et in Arcadia Ego 5/7
Author: TweedEmpress
Disclaimer: I do not own Giles, Jenny or anyone else – I just wish I did!
Feedback: yes please. I’m needy ;-) I take full responsibility for any mistakes (spelling or otherwise) in this fic.

Jenny swallowed the liquid, unable to stop herself from wincing before she licked the salt out of the hollow in her hand and, gratefully, sucked the slice of lemon.

‘Tequila. The only drink in the world that makes lemon juice taste good,’ she stated.

‘Pardon?’

She sighed and yelled her comment down his ear.

‘Indeed. Want another?’

Of all the places Jenny had expected him to choose, this was not it. The smoke-filled air alone had to be seventy-percent-proof and the number of people converging on the bar made it almost impossible to move. Giles had wedged them into a corner and had shown that he was not above deploying a strategically positioned elbow to ensure that they – or, at least, she – remain unmolested. The pounding salsa rhythms from the band meant that conversation could only be conducted by talking directly into someone’s ear. Not that she objected to being pressed closely against Giles. Especially when his fingers kept skimming lightly up and down her arm. The light hitting his glasses made his eyes impossible to read, but she could see him smirking slightly. And she planned to wipe that smirk back off again.

Jenny nodded, watching as he stretched easily across the bar and motioning to the barman to refill their glasses. He seemed quite at home and Jenny was left pondering the thousand contradictions that made up the personality of this quirky, enigmatic man. Like the fact that he had sounded almost afraid when he had asked her if she was a witch and yet was capable of wielding a terrifying amount of power in his own right. And his battered old Citroen, which screamed poverty, had always belied the ridiculously expensive cologne he had his sister send over to him specially. But he had confounded her expectations of him from the moment they met. It was nice to know that some things never changed.

The drinks were placed next to them and Jenny saw, again, the faintly challenging smile on his lips. She waited until he had, meticulously, arranged his salt and lemon-wedge and then took hold of his hand. Keeping her eyes focused on his, Jenny swallowed the shot and then raised his hand to her mouth, slowly licking the salt from it before engulfing the lemon in her mouth, running her tongue over his fingers.

Giles took in a sharp breath, mesmerized as her mouth moved over his calloused fingers. Only when she released him did he raise his glass and downed the fiery liquid. He didn’t flinch. He lowered his head towards her.

‘I believe you wanted to dance.’ His voice was husky and his eyes easily as smoky as the air around them.

Jenny nodded and found herself steered through the crowd until they reached the dance floor. It was full, but there was still enough room to move. Giles offered her his hand and Jenny laughed slightly at the sweetly old-fashioned gesture, allowing him to pull her towards him. It had been a long time since she had done this sort of dancing.

‘It’s a long time since you’ve done any dancing, girl,’ she amended.

The floor was vibrating with the sheer volume of the music and Jenny could feel her body beginning to sway of its own accord. It was impossible to think, the only thing to do was feel. She realised that Giles was moving with her – nothing complicated but, to her delight, he evidently knew what he was doing. The piece ended just as they were beginning to fall into a rhythm together, but neither showed any signs of quitting the floor.

‘You ready for the next one?’ Jenny asked in the lull.

Giles smiled benignly at her. ‘I think so.’

She should have known.

The band launched into a pounding, sensuous salsa and Jenny found herself pulled hard against him, one arm circling her waist with his hand resting low on her hip. Somehow her feet were moving, following his in a complicated pattern across the floor. His other hand held hers firmly and then she was suddenly spinning out, away from him before being brought back, their bodies colliding. She felt off balance, one foot raised off the floor. Giles took the opportunity to release her hand, cupping her behind the knee and then slowly trailing his hand up the back of her thigh. Jenny stroked his hip with her calf and he smiled slightly at her before allowing her foot to drop back down to the floor. She undulated against him, swinging her hips sensuously and feeling his pelvis pressed against hers. They were circling each other, eyes locked, his hands trailing down her arms as they pulled away in one of those flourishing manoeuvres before coming together again. Giles bent her back in a low dip and Jenny wrapped one leg around the back of his thighs, leaning against the strength of his arm. He pulled her up and she gripped the back of his neck, flicking her tongue tantalizingly over his lips. Her heart was keeping time with the thundering, pulsating rhythm. His hands firmly gripped her hips, encouraging her to move against him. She raised her arms high above her head, laughing slightly as he slid his hands from her hips up her body until he took hold of her hands and then pinned them behind her back. He dipped her again, lower and Jenny gasped as she felt him place a kiss between her breasts. She re-surfaced and he released her arms. Jenny held him at arm’s length for a moment, deliberately swaying her body seductively before twining her arms around his neck just as he pulled her back into his arms and the music ended.

They stood, gasping slightly and Giles pushed damp strands of hair away from her face. She gazed at him in amazement, her entire body buzzing. The band struck up again, this time in a slower tempo. Jenny rested her head on Giles’ shoulder and they began a slow, meandering circuit around the floor. When she moved her head to look at him she found his eyes fixed on her, sparkling humorously.

‘All right, England, I’ll bite!’ she said eventually.

He raised an eyebrow. ‘What?’

‘You’re forcing me to ask here. Where did you learn the fancy moves?’

‘Ah, that.’

Jenny sighed impatiently. ‘Yes, that.’

He laughed to himself at her expression and considered seeing how far he could torment her over this, but then changed his mind. Instead he raised her hand to his lips, kissing it softly before resting it over his heart and drew her a little closer to him.

‘Many years ago, my sister decided to take up Latin American dancing. She used to make me practice with her.’

‘How old was your sister?’

‘Fifteen.’

‘And you were…?’

‘I was twenty-one.’

‘And she made you?’

‘Well, I rather felt that I owed it to her, at the time,’ he said softly and then a smile crept over his face. ‘We’d roll back the rugs in the drawing room and put my Santana records on full-blast. I remember once she dragged the potted palms in from the conservatory – apparently they added an authentic touch of Buenos Aires.’

There was a wistful expression in his eyes and he stared a little beyond her, lost in the memories of those distant days. For a moment he looked incredibly young and Jenny couldn’t stop herself from running her hand down the side of his face. He started slightly and then smiled self-consciously.

‘I-I suppose you were expecting something a little wilder?’

‘Perhaps. But the real version is so much better.’ She gave him a mock frown. ‘Just as long as that’s not how you used to-’

‘Definitely not,’ Giles supplied hastily and then grinned. ‘That was entirely down to your inspiration.’

‘Flatterer.’

They smiled, a warm current of happiness and understanding passing between them. For that moment, each saw their own expression on the other’s face.

Jenny laid her head on his shoulder and they continued the dance.

The cold blast of air came as a welcome relief after the stultifying atmosphere of the club. Jenny turned her face upwards, enjoying the tingling sensation in her cheeks and pushed her hair out of her face. She took a deep breath and opened her eyes. Giles’ arm closed around her and she nuzzled into his shoulder. Under his jacket, his shirt was clinging to his body and she could feel heat radiating off him. The alcohol in her system seemed to react to the night air and she felt incredibly light headed, hardly feeling the ground beneath her feet. The only thing she was sure of was the solid warmth next to her, and so she clung onto him. In response, Giles kissed her hair and squeezed her shoulders reassuringly. His hair was darkened and spiky with perspiration and his eyes were glittering an unearthly sliver-green. Alcohol and the all-pervading magic had loosened his inhibitions and he could feel the mystical currents flowing more strongly than ever.

Jenny recognised the expression in his eyes: she had seen it fleetingly in the past, but he had usually buried it, albeit only shallowly. Now he wasn’t bothering to hide.

‘Can you see it? The magic?’

Giles looked down at her and smiled.

‘Mm-hmm. It’s everywhere.’

‘Show me.’

The glittering eyes focused sharply on her, now almost pure silver mirrors in their intense clarity.

‘Show you?’

‘Yes. I want to see what you can see. I want you to show me. Can you?’

They stopped abruptly in the middle of the boulevard, facing each other, ignoring the people who nearly walked into them.

‘I can. But are you sure? You would have to trust me completely, Jenny.’

She gave him a beatific smile. ‘I do. Don’t you know that?’

Giles removed his glasses and gazed into her face, his hands lightly on her shoulders.

‘Close your eyes.’

Jenny complied and then immediately opened them again when she felt his fingers press against her forehead.

‘I said close your eyes – and I mean keep them closed,’ he chided.

She closed her eyes again, this time prepared for his fingers running in a straight line from the bridge of her nose up to her hair line and back again. And then his voice, telling her to breathe – it seemed to come from the air around her and from inside her head at the same time. His hands ran down the contours of her face and came to rest on the sides of her arms, his fingers gently caressing her. There was a strange feeling of disassociation growing, as though she was separated from her surroundings by panes of glass and yet she could feel and hear everything far more acutely. She had fallen into a pattern of deep, regular breaths and could hear him murmuring strange words in some dead language. It was a hypnotic sound. She could feel the hairs on the back of her neck prickling and then the feeling spread over her skin.

‘Now open your eyes.’

She obeyed the softly spoken command and gasped.

Everything was bathed in gold: it swirled in currents, occasionally increasing in density and she could see thin tendrils reaching out and twining themselves around people or following unseen paths down the narrow side-streets. Jenny stretched out a tentative hand and met resistance as though she were moving underwater.

‘It’s amazing,’ she said, her voice sounding far away. ‘Is this how you see things?’

Giles smiled slightly. ‘Only sometimes. Can’t really get away from it here – it’s too strong.’

She felt something: a whisper, a breath against her mind. The sensation was wholly alien, and yet she knew immediately where it had come from.

‘You’re holding back.’

Giles looked at her.

‘There’s more than you’ve shown me. Rupert, don’t you understand? What you feel, what you see here – I want to see it. I want to feel what you feel.’

He took a deep breath and released it shakily; Jenny took hold of his face and forced him to look at her.

‘I want to share this with you. I trust you. I love you. This is part of who you are. Please, let me in.’

Wordlessly, he traced the lines of her face, running his fingers over her lips.

‘All right.’

The life of the city had not decreased around them, but Jenny still felt separated from it by that thick golden mist. Under Giles’ instruction, she had closed her eyes again and had resumed her deep breathing, His voice was working its hypnotic spell again and she began to focus deep within herself. She seemed to be floating: half of her was aware of her physical body, standing in the middle of that golden street, safe in his arms; the other half had retreated, finding the burning white light buried deep down.

‘Can you see it?’ His voice was so gentle, she wasn’t certain that she had actually heard it, but she nodded.

‘Good. Now push past it. Go beyond, into the darkness.’

The light vanished and she was plunged into darkness. It closed around her, warm and heavy and she was aware of an echoing throb in her ears. Her heartbeat. And then something insinuated itself into the velvety blackness – a thin, curving line of silver that suddenly flared green.

‘What is that?’

‘That’s me.’

It swirled, slowly extending itself like a web as though it were trying to fill her completely. His essence, his magic – the most private part of himself, he had placed within her. It seemed to be calling to her; summoning up something ancient and primal within herself that she hadn’t been aware existed. And then there was a spark – it rose up until one thin tendril appeared on the edge of that dark place. It glowed softly bronze, flecked with gold.

‘Is that me?’

‘Yes.’

The two colours danced around each other – parting and then spiralling around. The bronze became denser, more solid and as it began to weave an answering mesh of its own, Jenny became aware that the thundering in her ears had doubled. Two hearts were beating in synch and she knew that she had been drawn into him as deeply as he had entered her. The sliver-green and the rich bronze swirled closer together; tiny sparks jumped the gap between them as they resonated together and Jenny felt a powerful wave of pleasure roll through her. They raced toward each other, parted, chased each other, growing all the time in strength, glowing more brightly as they continued the wild dance. A tiny part of Jenny’s mind reminded her that she was standing in the middle of a crowded street, in the middle of the night. The thought, as far as it went, only seemed to heighten the pleasure that was coursing through her.

The colours corkscrewed around each other, generating white-hot sparks of bliss and then, just when it seemed they would burn themselves out, they fused together. There was a dazzling burst of brilliance, almost unbearable in its intensity. It contracted to a pinpoint and then exploded.

Blood thundered through her head, every molecule in her body was shaken loose and mixed with his. They were riding each other, with each other, endlessly, beyond language or understanding but knowing they were travelling as one.

Slowly they began to come down, regaining awareness of themselves. Jenny felt herself trembling uncontrollably – the only thing keeping her upright was the pair of arms holding her tightly. She buried her face in his shirtfront, inhaling his scent and heard him murmuring her name reverently. It was sometime before she was able to raise her head and look at him. His eyes still had the occasional flash of silver, but they had returned to their usual muted jade.

‘H-have you ever done that before?’ she asked hoarsely.

‘Only once,’ he replied, gazing at her, astounded by her and what had happened. ‘But it was nothing like that.’

They found each other’s lips, kissing desperately, both acutely aware of every part of the other. Consciousness of their surroundings began to filter through and, eventually, they began to walk slowly down the street. To Jenny, everything seemed more in focus: every sound was clearer, every sight more defined and over all of it she was vaguely aware of humming currents of gold. Tiny sparks and flickers were still working their way through her and she could feel their echo within the man next to her.

‘How do you feel now?’ Giles asked gently.

Jenny thought for a moment before answering decisively, ‘Stoned.’

He chuckled and kissed her hair. ‘Me too.’

If this was how it felt dealing with strong magic, then Jenny could fully understand how anybody could be seduced by it. She had been present at castings, had witnessed spells when the air had crackled with their electricity, but she had never known anything like what they had shared. And what seemed even more astounding was that it had been entirely natural – there was no bargaining with gods, no borrowing of power. Whatever it was he had unleashed in her had always been there and he had only revealed to her his own innate power. She was still buzzing from the experience, but was increasingly aware of the air around them, and the fact that it had become distinctly chilly. Jenny shivered and nuzzled closer to him.

‘Are you all right, Darling?’

‘Uh-huh, just a little chilly. I didn’t really come dressed for a night out.’

Giles stopped, hastily removing his jacket. ‘I’m sorry, I-I should have realised…’

He placed it tenderly around her shoulders.

‘Rupert, you don’t have to do this-’

‘Nonsense.’

‘All it means is that now you’ll be freezing.’

‘Ah, but you’re forgetting where I’m from!’ He gestured to the cool, empty air. ‘This is nothing!’

Jenny smiled up at him and then leant into the curve of his arm. ‘As long as you’re sure. But if you get cold…’

‘Yes?’

‘I’ll have to find a way to warm you up again!’

Giles cupped her cheek, exploring her mouth in a languorous kiss before pulling back and gazing into her melting eyes.

‘What do you want to do now?’

Jenny looked about, grimacing slightly as a passing car honked its horn brazenly.

‘Y’know, I think I'd like to get out of the city for a while. Can we do that?’

Giles considered this. ‘There’s a park – well, a sort of wood really – close to the hotel. Would that do?’

‘Sounds perfect.’

Giles glanced into the street. ‘And, if I’m not mistaken, our taxi is heading towards us.’

Jenny followed his gaze and spotted an old-fashioned, horse-drawn carriage making its way up the street, and sighed in relief.

‘Oh, thank you Gods and Goddesses in your mercy! I think my feet would have gone on strike!’

The horse stretched its head towards them, sniffing them cautiously as the driver turned the open-air carriage toward them. It whinnied excitedly and tossed its head with a snort. Giles gallantly handed Jenny into the carriage before taking his place next to her. The aged leather seat was soft and comfortable as Jenny and Giles settled themselves for their journey north.

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