Rating: totally G, sorry bunnies O.O
Disclaimer: Buffy the Vampire Slayer and all its characters are the property of Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy.
Spoilers: Not really
Feedback: Oui, por favor. I most prefer constructive criticism; don't hold back! And tell me if I typo-ed.
Notes: Conversation. Some of it is a bit OOC. Looking for a good beta
[center]Chapter 2[/center]
"Hey, Willow!" Tara waved from across the street. A car beeped as Willow waved frantically back, grinning so hard she felt like her face might break in half. She gestured invitingly toward the signal at the end of the block.
They met halfway across the crosswalk. "Hey, Tara!" The redhead's body was practically dancing, like a puppy's. "What's up? How are you? It's been a while!"
"I'm fine." Tara retreated behind the curtain of her bleached-blond hair. "I'm s-sorry I didn't call you yesterday. Um, I had a really b-b-busy day."
"Well, that's okay, I did too, so... it's okay." Willow smirked. "Actually, kind of an interesting story there, these big demon-things... um, Vahrall demons, with big spikeyness of the head and greeny, they were all for destroying the world. But no biggie, Buffy stopped it before it... happened. Which should be obvious," she noted, a crease forming between her eyebrows.
Tara hadn't really heard the last part. Her eyes were wide. "Wait... the world almost ended y-y-yesterday?"
"Well, yeah. Kind of. But no biggie, like I said..." Willow drifted off, noticing the look on Tara's face. "Oh, god, I wasn't thinking. This must sound totally wacko to you. I just thought... you know, with the witchyness, and..." She gestured helplessly. "But, you know, Apocalypse, I should be more sensitive! Gosh, what am I doing? What am I even saying? I'm such a dummy!"
Watching Willow beat herself up distracted Tara from being shy. "No, really Willow, it's okay." They sat at the table Willow'd staked out a full half-hour before their meeting-time. "I know with the Slayer as a best friend, it must be... really intense. So much that... the, the end of the world might not seem like such a big deal."
Willow looked deep in her eyes. "Well, if it ended, of course, big deal. But since it didn't... I don't know, I was just kind of busy beating..." She interrupted herself, realizing that she probably shouldn't go on the self-pity moping drag with a girl she'd barely known a week. "Beating all those nasty demons up! Yup, that's me." She grinned, noticing how deep Tara's eyes were. Then she realized what a misleading, and potentially damaging, cover-up she'd made.
"Well, actually, that's not me. Mostly I just stand in the corner. And do research, which, well, I'm not-- darn! Why do I keep saying 'well?' I don't usually say 'well' this often. In fact, only rarely do I say 'well.'" She shook her head and changed tack. "Well, I guess I do now. My daily average is increasing by the moment!" Something about this idea made her feel a little panicked.
Tara giggled. Willow, relaxing a little, tried to explain herself. "I guess today's just a 'well' day. Not that days become certain kinds just because of me! Maybe it's just I'm 'well'-girl," she concluded, a bit decisively and mostly nonsensically. She realized that she really enjoyed hearing Tara's laugh.
Got to make her do that again. ASAP.
"Well, wells are good. They make water, which is, um, essential to life," Tara informed Willow, her eyes dancing.
"Yeah!" Willow agreed enthusiastically, Tara's eyes drawing her in. "That's so.... Yeah." She grinned again, staring at Tara.
There was no talking for a moment. Then Willow sighed and looked down. "So. What were
you doing yesterday?" Her eyes flicked up to Tara's again, and she noticed how small the Espresso Pump tables were. Their knees were almost touching.
Tara half-smiled and shifted in her seat. Willow realized that she'd been able to feel the warmth of Tara's leg on her knee. Now, not so much. She was disappointed.
"I just... I have an internship, and so I was helping with that, and then a class, and then I had to work my shift at my job. Actually, overtime there."
"Wow." It was Willow's turn to be impressed. She was still a little jittery. "How late'd you work?"
"Eleven." Tara twisted her lip. "And I started with the internship at 8 in the morning."
Willow started to feel indignant. "Is that legal?" Her eyes widened. "Wait, you called me at 8 this morning, too.... How..." Her brain found a new track. "How'd you land an internship as a freshman? I was totally trying to get one, but they kept telling me, 'No, you're a freshman.' Ugh."
Tara was embarrassed. She avoided Willow's gaze. "Um, I guess I got into a correspondence with one of the members of the team a few years ago, so he helped me get it. I kind of... need the money."
"Oh," Willow deflated, impressed at her new friend's prowess. "I corresponded with a bunch of programmers in high school, but.... None of them work here."
Tara ventured a glance at Willow. "The internship is the reason I went here."
"Oh," Willow returned. She looked up. "What is it? I mean, what kind of research?"
"Archeology." There was a pause. "Kind of. How much do you know about that field?"
Willow sat up straighter, feeling the need to prove herself. She was feeling a bit outshone. But then she slumped again. "Not really very much at all. I read a little about it, but it was kind of... dry?" She tried to twist her face into an expression that said, "No offense."
Tara nodded, not surprised. "Yeah, most people think it is. Especially my work. But I really like it. It ties in with... the magic."
Willow nodded, her eyes brightening.
This was something she knew about. "Oh, yeah. Definitely, I mean, I can totally see how that would. With the... ancient peoples... magic... rituals... yeah." She sighed abruptly and started actively forgetting "Arcane Revelatory and Kinetic Magicks."
"Yeah. It's actually pretty interesting, t-t-there's very little evidence that modern Wicca has any relation to the Celtic religions that the f-founder of Wicca claims it's based on." Tara looked at Willow earnestly.
Willow twisted her lip. "Okay, everybody keeps saying that. Well, Giles keeps saying that. But honestly, I don't see how that makes a difference? The magic works.... I don't just tap into Wicca, I tap into, you know... The gods and goddesses of old, the essence of the world, the two halves of the one...."
"Or maybe just your, um, innate abilities?" Tara's eyes were teasing again.
"Maybe," Willow conceded, a brilliant image flashing before her, of two pieces of energy, purple and green, dancing together. "But then why the chanting? Why won't it work without... the names?"
"It worked last week, without any names at all," Tara pointed out. She looked down. "Mother always said that it didn't matter who you invoked, as long as you believed in it-- as long as you believed that it would help focus your power. Like, um, like wands." Willow noticed, with a flash of pride, that she was no longer stuttering.
"Never use them, myself," Willow stated, filling the space.
"I always invoke the goddesses, though. It makes me more... comfortable."
"Yeah," Willow said, catching Tara's eyes and holding them. "Me too."
"That-- That thing with the powers, the colors, playing with each other, last week... I've never done anything like that before. Or read about it, or anything." Tara didn't look down this time, Willow did.
"Me neither. I keep kind of wondering about it. But, really busy with the school and all!" Willow was blushing. She ducked under the table, her voice floating up. "Speaking of, check this out." She emerged with a grunt, offering a folder up. "This is my 'Book of the Wilde Ones,'" she said proudly.
Tara took the folder, wondering. She opened it and stared at the neatly-hole-punched contents. "'Book?'"
"Yeah!" Willow caught on. "Oh. Well, you know, those Wicca... with the whole, 'This book is a family heirloom! How could you even
consider asking me to lend it to you!' Anyway, I wanted a full copy myself."
"You copied it in a copy machine."
"Yeah." Willow was unfazed. "That's Part 3. The page with the spell on it is sticky-ed."
Tara shook her head and found the spot. Her eyes flicked up. "Do you want me to read it?"
"Do you want to? I can summarize."
"Okay." Tara waited.
Willow blanked. "Okay! Well, um..." She sighed, willing the spell to come to her. "Yes. The spell is for fairies. It, um.... You know how fairies are all around us, all the time? But we can't really see them? Only, sometimes, with some people, they can." Her eyes flickered. "Have you ever seen a fairy?"
Tara shook her head. "Once I thought I might have. But I didn't get a good look, and he didn't stay around to let me."
"I think I have, too. But, I mean, they must have sort of... revealed themselves to us. You know? Because they're really everywhere. I mean, there's probably a salt-shaker fairy sitting right here." She indicated the salt shaker on the table. Then she suddenly looked cagrined. "I'm sorry, salt-shaker fairy. I didn't mean to violate your space. Or to talk about you in your presence. That was rude." Tara looked at her, amused, as Willow continued, getting warmed up. "Although
I think it's pretty rude how you just sit there and listen in on other people's conversations. If you showed yourself, we'd be less likely to forget you're around!"
Tara's amusement blossomed into a full smile. Willow looked up at her, irate, but at the sight of Tara's grin her anger melted into a pleasant glow-ey feeling. "Sorry," she offered weakly, a bit overcome.
"That was... really interesing." Tara narrowed her eyes, tilting her head. "Do you do that a lot?"
"I was babbling," Willow informed her idiotically. Then she blushed again. "I don't know, I guess. Sometimes Xander's like, 'Will, slow down, you've stopped saying real words.'"
Tara nodded seriously. "Okay, so the spell?"
"The spell. So the spell.... We have to be in a kind of isolated spot, I think the wood would do, or somewhere out of the town limits. That way the fairies know there's little chance of anybody walking in on us." Willow was explaining intently, using her shoulders and hands. "We invoke the woodland godess Artemis and ask her to send her little creatures to us. Hopefully that won't be too many, because then we have to kind of... gain their trust. The spell's unclear about that part. Also, should draw a few animals as well."
Willow's gaze was intense. "And then they'll show themselves to us. Maybe even show us some of their secrets. It should be really cool."
Tara nodded. Willow said, "So, when do you have to go? Could we do it right now?"
"I think so. I've got--" she checked her watch "-- till 4. I have a class then."
"Okay, plenty of time then! So, the woods or the grassland?" Willow stood, gathered her folder up, and put it in her bag. She led Tara to the street, working out the physical details of the spell.
Behind them on the table, a glimmer showed. Above the salt shaker, a small face appeared, and then dainty legs perched lightly on the rounded top surface. Wings fluttered.