So on one of my frequent visits to TtH, I was reading the more recent chapters of "Things To Do In Colorado Springs When You're Bored", and the idea of a Buffy/Graham romance stuck in my head. A direction the author so far is only hinting at, but what the hell.

I always rather liked Graham Miller. Re-watching Season 4, at first I mixed him up with Forrest (the ass) and expected him to be killed by Adam, only to be relieved that he was among the survivors. As I said, I always rather liked him. He was never creepily jealous (and imagining Buffy's death in graphic detail in his head as Forrest must have done all the time), he was evidently friends with, but not crazily in love with Riley (like Forrest, the ass!), and helped with Riley's health issues as well as later with Spike's chip removal, if I recall correctly. Plus, he wasn't exactly beaten with the ugly stick.

He never seemed to have Riley's issues with Buffy's strength and mission, and while he was basically next-door-neighbor (or farmboy-from-Iowa) likeable - like Riley - he came across as far less self-centered and neurotic.

As a former member of the Initiative, he certainly amassed the same kind of supernatural combat experiences as all survivors of their unit, so I imagine he could relate well with the Slayers (and the Scoobies).

So, yeah, Buffy/Graham? Why not.

Post-"Chosen", I can easily see them run into each other for whatever reason, join up for a battle (or several), and grow closer in the process. Of course, it also thrills me imagining how Riley would flip if he and his perfect girl toy wife came back from South America only to be faced with his former friend and comrade essentially having replaced him in the affections of the one girl Riley never really got over.

I thought I wouldn't be the only one to see the potential, but strangely enough, I seem to be. Apart from two readable, but not outstanding stories (Usefulness and One Thing Leads to Another), this pairing is rarer than a dodo.

I seriously wonder why.

Although I really shouldn't. allaire discovers an interest in a pairing beyond the mainstream? allaire's search remains fruitless. Oh, the surprise. Gah, argh.

:::imagine Joss Whedon's drawn skeleton moving across the screen before it fades to black:::

/headdesk