First comments then, story…
Morgan - Thanks for checking in and especially pressuring the other kittens to comment. Gotta love the feedback. And you are right, the game was mainly just to get to know everyone a little better and I agree with you about the drinking.
Karmah - Thanks so much and you are so right about the last-minute stuff. Between the baby and Christmas and everything, it’s been a whirlwind. It could be any day now which is a really weird feeling. Thanks a lot.
Title – Paths Diverged/Divulged Part 31 –
If Your Worst Nightmare had Nothing to do with Monsters…Author – JustSkipit - Debra
Spoilers –Season 6
Rating – Part 31 – R
Disclaimer – Guess what… I don’t own W&T, Buffy or the rest of the BtVS crew. Any similarity to actual persons living or dead is purely coincidental and fortunate. Also Rachel thinks I should point out that I don’t make any money from this…
Disclaimer #2 - The song is by Mary Chapin Carpenter. No copyright infringement is meant by printing the lyrics. Thanks for the perfect words.
The other songs, I have no idea. I assume they are in public domain but if not, no infringement intended either.
Notes - A Cyber-cookie to Insanity who guessed Tara’s round long ago…
Thoughts in italicsRR#2 – T
Thu – 8:00p – 2:00a?
Rend: T&M
J—G Globes: Sexy
Ok, the first line was easy to decipher. It was the second round of the round robin and this one was Tara’s.
Thu – 8:00p – 2:00a?
Rend: T&M
Gotit: Thursday, or tomorrow night, from 8 to 2 and they would meet at Tara and Michelle’s. Well that part didn’t take much convincing.
Gee let me think about it, Willow thought sarcastically.
Tara doesn’t work tomorrow night so I wanted to see her anyway. It wasn’t that the redhead had no life. Actually her days were becoming quite busy with her consulting work as well as the volunteer project she was working on. She had her apartment quite well outfitted and was somewhat surprised to find that her furniture went quite well in the space in spite of the difficult conversation they had been having the day they shopped. At the time her phone rang with the text message she was sitting in a coffee shop reading headlines. It was hard to get over the differences in the two worlds and each day’s news was an amusing glimpse into the difference. Of course the Austin paper never included headlines like “Four found Dead of Neck Rupture at Sunnydale Train Station: Chamber of Commerce credits Program to Increase Tourism,” or “Mimes Burst into Flames: Crowd Applauds Silently.”
She couldn’t even begin to decipher the next line: “J—G Globes: Sexy.” She sat in the coffee shop for over an hour with a pile of crumpled napkins with attempts to break the code.
I hack into government databases for fun and I can’t figure out what my girlfriend is saying in a text message? she marveled before deciding to call and ask one of the other girls. Since she knew that Michelle and Tara were both in class she called Eliza who answered on the third ring.
“Eliza?” Willow confirmed.
“Sup-Red,” the younger girl chanted into the phone causing Willow to wonder if the entire language structure was different here from on her home planet.
“Uh, Eliza,” Willow started, “did you get the next round robin notice?”
Eliza giggled slightly, “Of course.”
“Well,” Willow continued, “does yours make any sense?”
“Of course,” the other girl repeated causing Willow to wonder if she was intentionally attempting to be dense.
“Well, what does it mean? I mean ok. I get the first three lines,” Willow babbled quickly, “I mean ok. It’s Tara’s turn for Round Two, which we knew. And it’s Thursday from 8 to 2 in the morning. But I don’t get the third line at all.”
“Breath in, breath out,” Eliza teased mimicking the voice of Mr. Miagi from the Karate Kid. “What does yours say?”
“Probably the same thing yours says,” Willow answered exasperated by Eliza’s unwillingness to help. “It says: J—G Globes: Sexy.” She waited a second before asking, “Eliza? Eliza? Are you there?” All she could hear was the sound of laughter over the connection.
“Globes? Such as they are I guess,” Eliza giggled as she tried to get her laughter under control, “Maybe the way they were at Chelle’s party.…”
“Eliza,” Willow sneered, “as you’ve said: what the fucking fuck?”
Eliza took a deep breath to calm her laugher and explained clearly, “Wear jeans and a tight Green sweater. I’ll let you figure out the code.”
“Jeans and a tight green sweater…,” Willow murmured a minute. “Ok. Jeans and a tight green sweater. But how did you get that from… Hey! Does yours say the same thing? Are we going to some ‘show off your assets or lack thereof’ show?” Patrons were starting to look at the redhead as she pondered the implications of Tara’s text message.
Finally Eliza’s voice permeated Willow’s thoughts: “Red, Red! Are you still there?”
“What? Yeah, I’m still here.”
“Look,” Eliza explained calmly, “mine says ‘J/S dark Silk.’ Chelle’s probably says something similar. She didn’t say anything about my globes.” The reassurance would have probably been more reassuring if she hadn’t giggled at the end.
“She likes my globes,” Willow muttered half to herself.
Eliza giggled, “Where are you, Willow?”
“Flightpath,” Willow answered. “And anyway, why is it called Flightpath?”
Eliiza laughed as she explained, “It used to be in the Flightpath but the Airport moved. That’s the way we name things and give directions around here. Hasn’t anyone told you to turn where something used to be or that something is next to the old Wal-mart or something.”
“All the time,” Willow half-shouted, “I thought I just didn’t understand the directions well.”
“Nope,” Eliza continued, “it’s a Texas thing to give directions where something used to be. You’re lucky. Sometimes the directions are more like, ‘when you pass the old tank it’s a few more miles.’ Once someone told me that I should turn right by the cows, like they don’t move?”
Willow laughed as she drained her coffee. “Why’d you ask?”
“Want to go do something?” Eliza asked.
“Oh you mean as opposed to sitting in a coffee shop reading the newspaper?” Willow deadpanned. “Yes!” Eliza gave her directions to her apartment, which strangely enough Willow had never visited, and the redhead was on the way.
--
Since both Michelle and Tara would be starting from their house and everyone was likely to spend the night there anyway, Willow found herself driving over at 7:30. She felt positively giddy. Because of tests and work, Tara hadn’t had the time to see her in three days. On the second day Willow had gone down to the school and brought the blonde coffee and a Danish between morning classes. Tara was surprised and overjoyed to see her lover. But that fifteen minutes had hardly fulfilled either girl’s craving for the other.
The door swung open before she even knocked and Tara stood in the doorway while Scooby bounded down the stairs to sit at her feet and wait for Willow to pet her. Willow thought it was probably a good thing that she had to stop and pet Scooby or she would have rushed to the door, taken Tara in her arms, and ravished her on the spot. Besides the three days of not seeing each other the blonde was wearing blue jeans and an equally tight royal blue shirt. The redhead’s heart pounded in her chest as she took in the sight of her lover in that outfit with boots to finish it off. “Shit,” she breathed out quietly and knew that Tara heard her by the smile on her face.
“You like?” the blonde purred as she took her lover in her arms and kissed her.
“What made you think that?” Willow squeaked as she wondered if they really needed to do this round of the round robin or if they could just stay in.
“We’re going, Willow Rosenberg,” Tara told her sternly as she led her into the house to wait for Michelle. “So, sweetie, what did you and Eliza do today?”
“Worried?” Willow teased.
“Well, a little,” Tara explained, “I mean you two have the potential to get in just so much trouble.”
Willow smiled a knowing smile as she explained, “No trouble but now I know a secret.” She flirted, “You could try and interrogate me later if you want.”
“But she’s still not telling anything,” Eliza shouted from the kitchen where she was pillaging the refrigerator of pizza leftovers. “This pizza has no pepperoni!” she shouted.
Tara rolled her eyes as she called back, “I think you’ll survive, Eliza.”
“What is she trying to survive?” Michelle asked as she emerged from her room obviously ready to go out.
“Pepperoni deprivation,” Willow explained.
Michelle walked up and wrapped her arms around her girlfriend to kiss her neck. “Everybody ready to go?”
“I’ll drive,” Tara announced.
Willow noted that Tara’s hard week had her limping more than usual. “I can drive if you want, love,” she offered.
Tara smiled knowingly as she refused her lover’s offer: “No baby, I think you will want to do some drinking.” The redhead raised her eyebrow at the statement but decided to go along with the evening anyway. How bad could it possibly be?
We call those famous last words.
It’s like saying, “As long as nothing goes wrong…”
Tara paid five dollars to park in a nearby garage and the four girls walked the short distance to the club. The neon pianos and musical notes on the sign caught Willow’s attention immediately. “Ivory Cats: Dueling Pianos” the sign read.
Oh fun, she thought picturing something like the Donald Duck versus Daffy Duck cartoon with the dueling pianos. “Hey,” she announced, “like Donald and Daffy!”
All three other girls looked at her like they had no idea what she was talking about. “Huh?” Tara asked.
“You know the cartoon? The one where Donald and Daffy Duck are playing the dueling pianos on a vaudeville stage? I love that one!” Willow expounded.
“Donald and Daffy Duck?” Tara repeated looking at her friends for further explanation.
“Ducks that play pianos?” Eliza asked. “Do ducks even have fingers?”
“Yeah,” Michelle agreed, “don’t they have like flippers or wings or something?”
“Ok, note to self, no Donald or Daffy Duck here,” Willow mumbled as they walked into the club
All three girls burst out laughing as the pointed at the redhead. “Gotcha!” they shouted in unison and Willow realized that they had probably been waiting for a good opportunity to pull that joke on her.
Tara led them to reserved table near the grand pianos facing each other at the front of the room. One was white and the other equally black. As soon as they sat down a waitress came to take their orders and the blonde ordered drinks for all. Willow looked around, impressed with the club. People were scattered around listening to the nice piano music and having a good time. She leaned over to kiss her girlfriend on the cheek before whispering, “It looks like a good choice, baby.” “I like this place,” she concluded as she intertwined their fingers.
“I hope so,” Tara smiled. “By the way,” she whispered directly into her lover’s ear, “nice sweater.”
“Just so you weren’t admiring their globes,” Willow teased as she nodded toward the other two girls.
“Never,” Tara reassured her. “Or at least not in years.”
“Tara Maclay!” Eliza, Michelle, and Willow mock shouted at her.
“Oh come on,” Tara defended herself, “we dated for two months!” Before the girls had finished laughing an audience member approached one of the pianos with a piece of paper. He handed it over and the piano player read the slip, nodded, and began playing. Willow’s mouth hung open as he started singing along, his entire table clapping and hollering at his effort.
“This, this, this…” she sputtered, “is a… it’s karaoke. This is karaoke…” she trailed off in amazed and horrified shock.
“Oh no, Willow,” Eliza deadpanned, “karaoke is a machine. This is ivory cats.”
“Yeah,” Michelle agreed, “here you hand the piano player the slip of paper with any song. At karaoke you are limited by what the machine offers.”
“Of course,” Tara added, “you h-have to know the words unless it’s one that they have the music for.”
“With singing?” Willow lamely squeaked. As she saw the smug looks on the other girls’ faces she locked eyes with Michelle. “But I though you were all with the ‘I can’t sing either’ and ‘not in a million years’?”
“Might be worth it,” Michelle answered as she downed her second drink.
“I’ll start,” Tara offered standing to walk to the black piano. “This one’s for you,” she whispered to Willow causing the redhead to figure that it must be a love song. As soon as the first piano stopped and Tara started singing Willow joined the entire club in their laughter as Tara’s choice became clear:
“Do your ears hang low?
Do they wobble to and fro?
Can you tie them in a knot?
Can you tie them in a bow?
Can your throw them over your shoulder like a continental soldier?
Do your ears hang low?”
She took a playful bow to the laughter and cheering of the crowd and returned to the table. “You want me to sing?” Willow asked disbelievingly.
Tara teased her lover, “What, no ‘oh baby that was beautiful?’ I thought you like my s-singing.” She playfully pouted at the redhead.
Willow refused to be pulled in by her girlfriend’s adorable flirtation: “You want me to sing?”
Tara kissed her lover on the cheek before explaining, “It can’t be as bad as you are pretending, sweetie.”
“It can’t be as bad?” Willow ranted. “How could you know? I mean I’m like the worst singer of the worst singers. I’m worse than… well really bad.”
“How bad could you be?” Michelle interjected as she stood and approached the piano. Before beginning she announced, “This one is for Willow.” Then she launched into a truly terrible rendition of “I Will Survive!”
Willow took another drink of her margarita as she mumbled, “Nice to know that the campy songs are the same in this universe.”
“Hey,” Eliza argued, “what’s wrong with ‘I Will Survive’?” Michelle reached the table and Eliza gave her a sloppy kiss. “My turn,” she announced and approached the piano to whisper to the player. A few seconds later she began singing “Stormy Weather” as the club became very quiet to listen to her wonderful rendition. As she finished, the room burst into thunderous applause. She took a few bows before returning to the table for another drink.
After a few more people took a turn at one piano or the other, Tara urged her girlfriend, “I think it’s your t-turn, sweetie.” Willow gave her a pouting look so Tara leaned forward to offer, “I’ll make it worth your while.” She gave a very flirtatious look as she did so.
Willow attempted to drive a hard bargain but the truth was that she would do anything her girlfriend wanted, even singing: “How?”
Tara leaned forward to whisper the redhead’s ear. The other two girls didn’t hear what she said but they noted the way that Willow’s face turned red and she choked slightly on her drink before standing to move toward a piano. All three girls wondered what she would sing and began laughing immediately as she started singing the “Monster Mash.” Since it was three weeks past Halloween, the bar was all in the mood for a silly monster song and began singing along which obviously eased the redhead’s embarrassment.
Willow felt completely embarrassed but also elated at having finished the song. Even though she knew that her singing was awful, it seemed that the audience had enjoyed it thoroughly, with most people singing along and some standing to dance in the aisles. Tara was gazing at her with that adorable lop-sided smile and it flashed through Willow’s mind that this was probably not as hard as it had been for Tara to let the redhead see her scars.
As she started to step toward their table she noticed that Michelle, Eliza, and Tara were all approaching her. As they did Tara handed her a sheet of paper. “Do you know this one, baby?” she asked.
Willow giggled as she looked at the sheet of lyrics before nodding. “Yeah, we have the Beatles in my world too.” She was surprised as Eliza pulled four silly wigs from behind her back and handed one to each girl to put on. Once they did they began singing ‘Yellow Submarine’ along with the music. Just as Willow was getting used to singing in front of a group and having fun, the piano player began speeding up the music. Then the other piano started playing a different song which completely confused her. She ended up giving up on singing and just tapped her foot as Tara, Michelle, and Eliza continued. They all returned to the table shaking with laughter and happy to accept the drinks sent over from someone else in the bar.
The evening went on with Tara and Eliza singing frequently, Michelle less frequently, and Willow just often enough to keep from being harassed by the other girls. All four got up one more time to sing “In the Jungle” together although Willow contended that it was the #1 – Worst to get Stuck in your Head song in any world. Midway through the evening Tara stopped drinking so that she would be safe to drive the group home.
“I can’t believe you took us to live karaoke for your round robin,” Willow told Tara as they drove home at the end of the evening.
Tara lifted her girlfriend’s hand to her lips to place a soft kiss on the skin. “I just wanted to see how terrible you really were.” Before Willow could begin to pout she told her, “You w-weren’t as bad as you think.”
Willow smiled broadly, “Maybe I’ll serenade you with my favorite song when we get home.”
“Your favorite song?” Tara asked curiously.
“Well,” Willow hinted, “I just heard it for the first time a few weeks ago but it made me think of you and me and the way I feel about you instantly.”
“I can hardly w-wait,” Tara assured her as they pulled into the driveway.
Michelle and Eliza had been cuddling in the back seat and sat up with a start. “Good job, Tara,” both girls reassured the blonde witch. All four girls bid each other a quick good night.
A few minutes later Willow and Tara were snuggled beneath the covers, enjoying the soft feel of each other’s skin. “So…?” Tara hinted.
Willow blushed for a second until she looked into her lover’s bright blue eyes. They showed not a hint of anything but love for her. Taking a deep breath (in deference to the song’s amazingly long first sentence) she started:
If you ever need to hear a voice in the middle of the night
When it seems so black outside that you can’t remember light
Ever shone on you or the ones you love in this or another lifetime
And the voice you need to hear is the true and the trusted kind
With a soft, familiar rhythm in these swirling, unsure times
When the waves are lapping in and you’re not sure you can swim
Well here’s the lifeline
If you ever need to feel a hand take up your own
When you least expect but want it more than you’ve ever known
Baby here’s that hand and baby here’s my voice that’s calling,
This is love, all it ever was and will be
This is love
And if you ever need some proof that time can heal your wounds
Just step inside my heart and walk around these rooms
Where the shadows used to be, you can feel as well as see how peace can hover
Now time’s been here to fix what’s broken with its power
The love that smashed us both to bits spent its last few hours
Calling out your name, I thought this is the kind of pain
From which we don’t recover
But I’m standing here now with my heart held out to you
You would’ve thought a miracle was all that got us through
Well baby all it know, all I know is I’m still standing
And this is love all it ever was and will be
This is love
And I see you still and there’s this catch in my throat and
I just swallow hard till it leaves me
There’s nothing in this world that can change what we know
Still I know I am here if you ever need me
And this is love
And if you ever think of me let it be around twilight
When the world has settled down and the last round of sunlight
Is waning in the sky, as you sit and watch the night descending
A car will pass out front with lovers at the wheel
A dog will bark out back and children’s voices peal
Over and under the air, you’ve been there lost in the remembering
And if you ever wish for things that are only in the past
Just remember that the wrong things aren’t supposed to last
Babe it’s over and done and the rest is gonna come when you let it
And this is love, all it ever was and will be
This is love, when you let it, if you let it now
This is love, all it ever was and can be
This is loveBy the time Willow finished singing there were tears in Tara’s eyes. “Wow,” Willow joked, “my singing was that bad, huh?”
Tara leaned in to kiss her lover gently, cupping her hands on the redhead’s face. “No baby, it was just so beautiful. It’s l-like it was written for us,” she explained before again capturing her lover’s lips.
Willow responded to the kiss fully and finally pulled away breathless, a dazed look in her eyes. A smile spreading across her face she whispered, “Well Ms. Maclay, are you going to pay up on that offer to make it worth my while?”
Tara blushed bright red as she ducked her head under the covers, her voice barely audible: “My pleasure.”
---
"I was working on a proof of one of my poems all morning and took out a comma. In the afternoon, I put it back in again." - Oscar Wilde
by Grimlock72 » Sun Dec 07, 2003 2:47 pm 
Hellooooo Debra! Seasons greetings to you and yours 
) about Tara - her needs, what would make her the most comfortable, but most importanly, making her feel so loved 
Debra 
still doing well I hope? 
hated to sing I should have known that something like that would be what 
's RR would be. 
I love Eliza and Michelle in this. Globes! 
Course you don't have to have guy in the group for that here. 
more. Update soon, please? 
at: 12/28/03 11:38 am
