Sunnydale, Halloween 2001: an engagement
As Giles is fumbling in the dark broom closet, wishing for three ibuprofen, twelve hours' sleep and perhaps a new pair of feet, the voices in the shop behind him go suddenly quiet. Bugger. Anya's probably announced a third day of sales, or possibly that the Magic Box will now be the 7-11 of occult shops, open 24 hours a day for maximum profitability.
The last broom, wedged behind a box labelled "Sanchez Industrial Occult Cleansers" and "DO NOT DROP" comes free after a tug that adds a new layer to Giles' backache. He gathers them all up, loosens himself from a tangle of electrical cord, and turns around.
Behind the counter, Xander and Anya are smiling broadly, expectantly, with their arms around each other. The others look to be in various states of shock-Buffy expressionless, but narrow-eyed and blinking, as though she's peering through mist; Willow saying something low to Tara out of the corner of her mouth; Oz with his brows drawn together thoughtfully, crinkling the Hebrew letters (only Oz would decide to dress as a golem for Halloween) into unreadable fragments. Dawn, however, is undismayed and grinning almost as widely as Xander and Anya.
"Er, I seem to have missed something," Giles says. Four brooms and two feather dusters make an awkward armful, and he can't adjust his grip without dropping something. He tries shifting his weight to the other foot. The feathers are tickling his chin, and he must look a proper berk. For a moment he remembers the humiliating exposure of turning up late for class, when he was a boy.
"We're getting married!" Anya says. "Isn't it thrilling?"
As though Anya has turned on a tap, congratulations immediately fill the room, and Giles' "Oh. Of course. Delightful, yes," luckily goes unnoticed.
After a few seconds, it occurs to him that they won't be cleaning now. He puts the brooms back, and then Oz is next to him. "Well," Giles says, and can't think of anything to add. Oz looks . . . surprised, and so Giles' own face must show all too much doubt. Putting on a smile and holding Oz's hand, he leads them back over to Xander and Anya and says, "Congratulations. I'm sure you'll be very happy."
A silly twenty-one year old boy and an ex-demon, marrying on a hellmouth. It's more absurd them himself and Oz, and that's saying a lot.