tamingthemuse | Prompt 558 - Giddy - Giles as the Big Bad - Dragon's Phoenix

Title: scene from In a Corner of My Soul: I Robot; You Jane chapter
Author: Dragon's Phoenix
Fandom: BtVS
Prompt: 558 - Giddy
Word Count: 783

The fat kid didn't have a home. Bob hadn't picked up on it – nobody had – until he'd stayed late one night. The ritual had been a bitch to translate. It might have been easier to work on at home but somehow translating the text at the zoo had seemed important. When he got stuck, he'd stare at the hyenas until inspiration struck. That night, he'd stepped off of the stairs and had been working his way across the lobby of the zoo's main building when he'd seen something odd in the gift shop. That had been Tim, big as a whale and trying to fit himself onto a hammock. He worked at the concession stand, selling burgers all day. After a roommate had dumped him to the curb, he'd swiped a key to let himself in through the side gate.

The kid had been practically giddy when Bob didn't fire him. “You can't sleep here,” Bob had told him. “Insurance won't cover it, but you give me that key and I'll let you keep your job.” The insurance had been an excuse. He couldn't risk the kid stumbling across his work with the hyenas. “You can come in an hour early to catch a shower and make yourself something to eat in the break room.” The kid was a nobody, but you never knew when even a nobody might turn useful.

After Giles had introduced him to Eyghon, Bob, thinking Tim could finally be of use, had started sitting with the lad, first thing in the morning, bringing coffee and sometimes donuts for the two of them to share. Bob had been a day or two away from drugging the kid when that little girl, lost, had run up to him when nobody was looking. The power hadn't lasted though and Tim's time was up. Bob was reaching for the donuts when something in Tim's daily babble-fest reached through. “There are no real Sumo schools here in Sunnydale but I might get Sensei Brian to teach me the basics.”

How the hell did some homeless lard-bucket have someone keeping an eye out for him. “Sensei Brian?”

“He's got a dojo over on Main Street. I was thinking I'd ask him if he could teach me. I mean, none of his other students are training for Sumo, but all I need are the basics. My cousin Janet's going off to college next year and I'm hoping aunt Nancy'll let me have her room. They're in L.A. There's a real Sumo school there. Being big as I am, it's gotta be good for something, right?”

“You haven't spoken to him yet?”

“Well, no. I keep passing the dojo, watching classes through the window, and I keep meaning to go in, really I do, but I find myself at Doublemeat Palace instead.”

The kid was a real winner. He hadn't gone to that sensei for lessons just like he hadn't gone to his aunt for a place to stay. Bob could see why. Once he'd asked and had been turned down, that'd be it. No more hope. The end of his dreams.

“You're a smart kid. You can get the basics down in less than a year.” Reaching back around for the donuts, he added “I almost forgot. I picked us up a treat.” Handing over the drugged donut – a couple of tablets ground and sprinkled under carefully scraped back icing – was easy. He always gave the kid the sugar bomb. “Boston Cream, your favorite.”

“Thanks Mr. Weirick but I don't know. I did have those three breakfast sandwiches and home fries. I'm sort of full.”

Shit. “Nonsense,” Bob replied amiably. “You want to be a Sumo wrestler, you have to pack in the carbs.”

The kid looked longingly at the donut but didn't take it. “Actually they eat this stuff called Chankonabe. It's a stew – veggies, tofu, fish, meat – but they do also eat a lot of rice.”

“Not big on the sugar, eh? Maybe that means you should stock up on your sweets now.”

Tim wolfed down the donut in three bites, not even taking time to taste it. The drug took its sweet time taking effect. Bob glanced around, waiting for someone to stumble across them and wished he'd made up an excuse to get the kid into the basement before drugging him. After about fifteen minutes, Tim was't completely out but he wasn't moving much either. Bob pulled over a flat cart, rolled the kid onto it, and carted him away. He'd have to move quickly. There wasn't much time to secure the kid before the rest of the staff showed up to start the workday.