"The curse! It's broken! It worked!" She shook Giles gently by the shoulders, then kissed his nose and let him go. "Thank you frogs, thank you crickets and than you little goldfish..." She curtsied to the surroundings then turned around again, grabbing Giles hand. "I wanted to sleep with you more than Bonet right now, that's how I knew!" She was happy enough to almost squeal.

The clouds over Giles' face broke, and he gave her a look of sunny disbelief. "R-really?" he asked, clutching at her hand. "Hahaha! Haha!" Pulling her close, he scooped her up off the ground and spun her for a moment, laughing.

She squealed, clinging to Giles. "If you drop me and get my dress wetter I am so kicking your ass." But she sounded equally happy about everything. "Alright. If this didn't break it for Bonet, at least you can kiss him too and fix it."

As if to prove her point, she kissed Giles again, breathing a sigh of relief. Then she admitted "I am gladit worked, I kept wanting to run back to the castle to see if Bonet had arrived yet. It was so hard to stay here, but I don't think I would have ever wanted it broken if we hadn't been separated for this long."

"Oh hush, you're already soaked to the none. Thank god for long patrols!" Giles laughed, then tipped back his head and shouted at the sky. "GOOD NEIGHBOR!"

When he let her down, it was very gently, and he kissed her resoundingly once more, just for the hell of it. "I hope he's not angry with me," he said, a brief look of worry crossing his face.

"If he is, he's stupid. I mean... yes, it was wonderful at first. I'll admit to that. I have never felt like that, but... it was fake. it hurt other people I cared about. Surely he'll see that?" Gioia ran a hand through Giles hair, giving him a little smile "Aw, you're still crushing on him, aren't you?"

"No! I--no, that's silly," Giles informed her, despite the fact that he was blushing ferociously. "You're important to me. You're both important to me. I was worried I'd have t'choose between you, but I never... I never thought you'd pick one another o'er me. I'm sorry. I didn't know what to do."

He looked away, fiddling with his hair again. It was long enough to blow in his eyes obnoxiously now, and the difference in length from one side to the other was less noticeable than it had been after his accident.

"No, it's not silly." She gave the man a light blow in the stomach. "You are. And you don't have to choose. I... I just hope he is going to alright with it you know?" She ran a hand over Giles arm. "He doesn't let people close. And now he did. I have no idea how that will affect him." Her face grew serious for a moment, the she shrugged. "I guess we will see when he returns."

Giles nodded, sheepishly. "Who knows. It may be good for him. To realize that you can enjoy havin' someone close, I mean." He tried to sound as neutral as possible about the possibility, though he was fooling neither of them an he knew it. "He told me he'd always suspected we were going to leave him for one another. We aren't. Right?"

"Right." She gave Giles a hard hug. "Besides, that would be kinda futile. I think he's just scared you know? He's older than me, and... maybe he's worried that life's leaving him behind. It's easier for men, but... you're young. I think he's worried to be close because he's certain that you'd leave. Saints... it's a mess. And there is nothing we can do there, it is a fear he's going to have to come to terms with himself."

She shook her head, looking towards the sea "I think that he doesn't like the man that he has turned into very much."

"You don't have to stay the way you are. People change," Giles pointed out, quietly, then gave her shoulder a squeeze. "We'll talk to him when he gets back an' get things sorted. For th' moment though, that invitation still stands.... Stay with me. I'll cook the cra--oh, shit!"

At the thought of the crabs, Giles dashed back into the shallows to where he'd dropped the bag and hauled it anxiously out of the water. Fortunately, his luck held through, and the bundle had stayed carefully tied. "Hah! Lookit that!" he exclaimed, triumphantly, and began tramping back towards shore.