As Xander said his piece, Riley just sat, and listened...and helped himself to another finger, of course. It was a good thing he exercised as regularly as he did, because bleu cheese dressing was hell on a diet.
"I'm not asking you to do otherwise, Xander. Like I said, your loyalty is one of your greatest strengths. What I AM asking you to do is help me stay in the loop. Because as good as the Initiative is at cloak and dagger, I can't rely on that as my sole source of information. Sooner or later, it's going to get someone hurt...hurt worse."
This last bit was added with a note of regret, remembering the security guard in the archives who suffered a particularly jarring impact with a concrete floor thanks to him. He may have been working for the wrong people, but he was still a human man trying to do his job. That wasn't the sort of fight he was looking for.
"So, to get the information I need, I need to open up the option of simply asking. Like...what is this Book of Twelve Stones I've seen references to? This Eliot Spencer guy Buffy's been seen with. In spite of what little we can dig up on him, is he on the level? But I can't in good conscience commit the Initiative to any sort of alliance, not yet. But I do know the Initiative will be needed, and if things are as bad as they seem, some sort of cooperation may be a must. For that, I need a go between, someone who can be my voice over there, and also speak for them. A, uh...a liason, I guess is the firm's lingo for it.