Fly With Me: Three (Four) Stages of Truth, by Soft Princess

"All truth passes through three stages. First it is ridiculed. Second it is violently opposed. Third it is accepted as being self-evident."

Stage 1: "First it is ridiculed."

One. Xander can't believe it. He can't, because it isn't true: he is not attracted to Giles. At all.

He wants to tell Willow so they can laugh together about it. They would laugh about the dream Xander's had where Giles was as close to naked as... naked. Very, very naked.

But telling Willow means acknowledging that the dream was dreamt, and no, that isn't in Xander's plans. Sure, laughing about it on his own is kind of pointless, but it's so much better than telling Willow. The embarrassment factor is much less high this way.

At least, as long as no one sees him laughing at himself. That would give other embarrassing situations a run for their money. Not that embarrassing situations have money or--

Back to the subject at hand. Giles. Xander is not attracted to him. Nope, not at all, not even a tiny bit. Besides, Giles would never want to do to Xander the things he was doing in the dream with his tongue and fingers and...

Would never happen.

Stage 2: "Second it is violently opposed."

Two. When Xander sees Giles that night at the Magic Box, he makes a point of categorizing all the reasons why he isn't attracted to him.

1. Giles is a guy.

2. Giles doesn't have breasts.

3. Xander isn't gay.

4. No way.

5. Absolutely not.

6. Besides, Giles is like, ~~old.~~ ~~older than Xander.~~ not that old.

Xander mentally scratches off all the points on his list but the first three. Point number six sticks around anyway, the "not that old" part blinking in Xander's brain like a bad neon sign in front of a strip club.

Xander can still see himself dancing to the music that one night, feeling awkward and like he had five hands instead of just the two. About half the audience were guys; they were the louder half too. Xander remembers the cheers and the leers and the way his body had flushed under the attention--how he'd had to run to the restroom to take care of a not so little problem afterwards. Maybe number three isn't so much true as... incomplete.

Xander curses the part of his brain that thinks these things, and abruptly leaves the shop before Giles has time to look up and find him there.

Stage 3: "Third it is accepted as being self-evident."

Three. Xander isn't gay. He's already come to that conclusion by knowing perfectly well that he likes breasts. Breasts are good, breasts are lovely, breasts belong to girls, ergo, Xander likes girls. It's a very simple equation, and no matter how poorly he did in math class, he can understand this one.

But guys have broad shoulders, bigger hands, stubble Xander would like to touch, and there's also the chest hair, the strong legs, and...

Okay, maybe he's bi. Bisexuality isn't a bad option. Isn't it the best of both worlds? Girls and guys, the whole spectrum of humanity to choose from--a whole new world to explore. And so, if Xander's bi, his attraction to Giles is not so impossible as he might think it is.

Lets face it, Giles has many attractive qualities, starting with his brain. And his shoulders. And his hands. And his chest hair. And many, many other parts of him.

Including the part that's just below his back, and on top of his thighs. That part is great.

That part is the principal reason for Xander's really naughty dreams. He spent one evening catching every glimpse of it he could, and woke up the next morning with a hard-on, and memories of touching it, squeezing it, his hands never leaving Giles' ass as he--

Evidently, Xander has it bad.

Stage 4: And now to do something about it...

Four. "So Giles," Xander asks, sprawled into a chair; they're alone in the Magic Box, "what are you doing Friday night?"

"I beg your pardon?" Giles looks up from his book, brow furrowed into a frown. His glasses are low on his nose, and Xander can barely repress the urge to push them up.

"Friday night, dinner, you and me?" He's trying very hard not to think of the possible consequences; If Giles isn't interested, this could get messy.

"If you're asking me out," Giles says, pulling his glasses off and polishing them with the edge of his sleeve, "perhaps you should use my first name."

Xander grins. "Rupert, would you go out with me?"

"Yes, Xander, I would love to," Giles replies with a smile of his own. "Dinner and a movie, I suppose?"

"That's what I was thinking. Though if you have a better idea, I'm all ears."