Fic: No More

[spazz07]

Great update Joy, i also am intriged as to just where Michael has got to. It was nice to see Willow being supportive and as nice as Mary is, she needs a non Tara like hobby



Cheers

Nath

If life was meant to be a bed of daisy's we'd have chicken crap thown on us all the time.

[tkheaven]

Mary is all smitten with Tara, awwww...oh well, I like Willow being all support gal...ya know, after reading ch21 I got the urge to buy some donuts, especially the creme-filled, chocolate frosted ones, cuz they are, of course, my favorite...

Tk's new and improved "GrrArgg"

-----------------------------
Tara was similarly riveted, her body on slow burn as Willow's lips parted and her mouth opened, the food slipping inside and being consumed. Never in her life had Tara ever wanted to be a chicken casserole so badly...Later that night..."It's good to be a chicken casserole," Tara murmured, before passing out. ~ Answering Darkness by Sassette

[TheWhiz]

Great update!

I cringed with Tara as she fell off her chair- how embarrassing, although I'm sure we've all had similar incidents I know I have!!

I thought you dialogue worked really well you have grasped the characters extremely well

"I am a whiz...If ever a whiz there was"

[TwiLightJoy]

“Amy, what’s up?” Tara asked into the receiver. She’d never had a personal call at work before, so she figured it would have to be something really important.



“Well, I finally got through at Michael’s house. He’s in the hospital!” Amy said, sounding very upset.



Tara gasped, “Oh my gosh, is he – is he okay?”



“Well, his dad says he should be fine, they’re releasing him tomorrow hopefully.” She drew in a breath and let it slowly out. “He was beaten, last night I guess. He made it all the way home on his own, luckily nothing was broken, he was just cut and bruised, and his ribs were slightly fractured. Whoever did this to him also knocked out one of his teeth, so he has to be fitted for a replacement. He’ll be okay, he didn’t even need any stitches, but my god, that was Michael!”



Tara was unsure what to say. This was one of her friends; she felt pretty much the same way Amy did about the Goth boy. “Well, I’m glad he’ll be okay. We can go visit him when he gets out, right?”



“Yeah, he should be back in school pretty quickly, too, they said.” Another sigh. “Well, I just thought I should fill you in on how he is, and I didn’t think leaving a message at the apartment was the right way to do it.”



Tara nodded, grateful she’d called. “Yeah, thanks so much for calling, Amy. I’ll talk to you in the morning.”



~~



Later that night, Tara flipped the sign on the front door of the Espresso Pump to “Closed” as Mary lowered the blinds. “Are you sure you don’t need a ride home, Tara?”



“No, I’m going with Buffy,” she explained. “We’ll be fine, but thanks for asking.”



Mary smiled down at the shorter woman. “Any time. It’s probably a good idea to have Buffy with you.”



Tara tilted her head curiously, she thought no one else know the petite blonde was … ‘special.’ “Why do you say that?”



“Well, you hit your head today. I mean, you don’t have any signs of a concussion or anything like that, but it’s better to be careful. If Buffy wasn’t going to be here, I’d definitely make sure you weren’t walking home on your own.” The waitresses walked into the back room to clock out, and Tara put her jacket on after removing her apron. They then headed out the back door, Mary bidding good night to Buffy and Tara and heading to her Ford Escort.



“I take it you managed to talk Xander and Willow into staying home?” Tara said with a half-smile.



Buffy nodded, grinning. “Willow seemed to want to come along pretty badly, but I finally got her to stay at home this time.” She led the way out of the parking lot and around to the street.



Aww, Willow wanted to help, Tara beamed. “How come she wanted to come so much, you think?” she asked quietly.



“You know, I’m really not sure,” the Slayer admitted. “She’s just kinda protective of her friends. I guess she’d like to give a piece of her mind to whatever nasty scared you last night.”



The pair walked silently down the still streets, Buffy’s pace matching Tara’s slightly longer strides easily. The tinsel-covered window displays still looked slightly creepy, especially the fabric and clothing stores with their mannequins in the windows. They turned to cross the street, a lone pickup rumbling past as they waited for the crosswalk light to change. Alert Slayer hearing picked up a sound from behind, but they continued onwards without casting so much as a glance behind.



Further down, near the bakery, Buffy caught another noise. “All right, that’s the second one I've heard. I’m pretty sure we’re being tailed. I’ll go check it out, but keep your stake handy, and keep heading for your building.” Tara nodded, reaching for the wooden spike in her pocket and holding it tightly. Buffy turned and jogged back along the path they’d followed, shadow-silent. Tara watched for a while, but then continued walking toward the apartment building as Buffy had asked her to.



She was a little hesitant to cross the alley that the cats had fought in last night for some reason, but sucked in a breath and forced herself to go on. Just as she passed it, a long shadow fell across the ground into Tara’s range of vision. She whipped the stake out and turned on her heel, bringing the weapon to bear, and looked up, up, up into the face of a pale man with dark, spiky hair. He wore a long overcoat, also dark, and black pants with equally black leather boots.



“Whoa, whoa, whoa there,” the man said, holding both hands up before him and taking a step away from Tara and the stake. “I’m not gonna hurt you. Just put the stake away.”



“How do I know that?” Tara said, clutching the stake firmly. “You could be just saying you aren’t gonna hurt me, then drag me off and kill me!”



The tall man nodded his head back towards where Buffy had disappeared. “I saw Buffy go, figured you’d need protection if she was walking you home. Where’d she head off to, anyway?” He stepped towards Tara, who stepped back involuntarily at his closeness.



“She, she said she heard something. And exactly why should I believe you’re here to protect me?” the petite young woman nearly growled.



The older man smiled disarmingly. “We haven’t been introduced yet. My name’s Angel.”



~~



Buffy, meanwhile, was closing in on the mysterious noise-maker. Whatever it was, it kept a good pace, and she’d been chasing it for about three blocks, past the Espresso Pump. The dark figure ahead dashed into an alley, and the Slayer followed, turning and springing onto the shadowy form. The two went down in a heap of limbs, Buffy struggling to hold the stalker’s frame down beneath her. It was strong, but actually kind of smaller than she would have expected.



A black-gloved fist flew up towards the Slayer’s face, but Buffy agilely dodged the blow, catching the arm and twisting it around so no further punches came her way. The whatever-it-was bucked, attempting to throw Buffy off it. “Come on, already, let me go!” it cried. And the voice was familiar.



Buffy didn’t release the arm yet, but leaned down, brushing dark hair away from the person’s face, revealing a fair-skinned feminine countenance. “Faith! What was I chasing you for?” Buffy said, finally letting the dark Slayer’s arm free.



“I have no idea, girlfriend, but now whatever I was chasing has a lot of ground on me.” She leaned up, propping her upper body upright with her strong arms. Buffy was still seated, stunned, on top of Faith’s hips. “You wanna get up, B, or are you just enjoying this position?”

IttyBittyKitty: "creme filled though...a little subtle there?"
TwiLightJoy: "There are reasons for everything, I tell ya! Chocolate-frosted reasons!"
IttyBittyKitty: "that is quite enough of YOUR sass!"

[Zahir al Daoud]

Wow is there anybody Tara has left to meet?



Meanwhile, the whole story of what *else* was going on Sunnydale High (Michael, Mary, etc.) continues to enthrall. Not as much as Tara, natch, but then so few things do...

"O Let my name be in the Book of Love!
If it be there I care not of that other Book above.
Strike it out! Or write it in anew, but
Let my name be in the Book of Love!"
--Omar Kayam

[tkheaven]

woohoo, now Angel and Faith are in the picture...hmmm...what else do you have in store for us...

Tk's new and improved "GrrArgg"

-----------------------------
Tara was similarly riveted, her body on slow burn as Willow's lips parted and her mouth opened, the food slipping inside and being consumed. Never in her life had Tara ever wanted to be a chicken casserole so badly...Later that night..."It's good to be a chicken casserole," Tara murmured, before passing out. ~ Answering Darkness by Sassette

[jdcioffi]

Yay! Faith's here! The party can officially start!



I've been (semi) patiently awaiting her entrance. I'm loving this ... muchly

JD

"I smell the smelly smell of something that smells smelly!" (SpongeBob Squarepants)

[spazz07]

Great update Joy. Angel and Faith finally on the scene and Willow wanting to badly go with Buffy to walk Tara home was cute Can't wait for the next bit as you continue to enthrall us all.



Cheers

Nath

If life was meant to be a bed of daisy's we'd have chicken crap thown on us all the time.

[Kerrison]

heheheh... gotta love Faith.



What a great update.



To be cliche: More please. Now!



-Kerry

"What a curious thing to be so upset about. Nature delights in diversity. Why don’t human beings?" -HBO Southern Comfort

[Latsric]

woo hoo...Faith has arrived



but what happened to Micheal? Guess there was more going on at Sunnydale High that the Scoobies didn't know about. And Willow wanting to go w/Buffy to protect Tara..so cute.



-Lat-

- I need my obsessions, they keep me sane -

[mollyig]

Aw Willow wanted to go to with Buffy to escort Tara. I think she should have used her resolve face.

Adding up the total of a love that's true, multiply life by the power of two
Indigo Girls

[nothingman]

This just keeps getting better Great Fic!!

Edited by: nothingman  at: 7/11/02 2:05:53 am

[MissQuirky]

Hey i just started readin ur story, its really good! I can't get enough of it, i'm hooked! Can't wait 4 ur next update!

[Ittybittykitty]

Yay for the update, not to be a rabid kitten but when are we gonna get more?

Meri-SCREW THE SYSTEM!
Me-I will not, who knows where it's been?!

[TwiLightJoy]

Mr. Giles polished his glasses for the fifteenth time that morning. “And what exactly was it you were chasing, again, Faith?”



The dark-haired younger Slayer sighed; her feet were propped up on the library table as she leaned back in her chair. “Like I said already, I didn’t get a really good look. I was just patrolling and happened to see B and Blondie here walking down Main, and this big dark thing following them.”



“And by big and dark you mean…?” the Watcher prompted, putting his glasses back on.



The Bostonian frowned in frustration. “I mean, it was about six feet tall, and either it had black skin or it was wearing black clothes. I didn’t get close enough to see which, ‘cause B pounced me and tried to break my arm.”



“What? I did not try to break your arm!” Buffy argued. “I was just disarming you.”



“See? She admitted it. Dis-arm,” she emphasized. “Pulling my arm off. I rest my case,” Faith stated obstinately, crossing her arms over her chest.



Xander and Tara hid chuckles behind their hands, while Willow buried her head in her hands. “Faith, that’s not what – never mind.” The auburn-haired young woman sighed. “So the baddie got away, but on the good side, Tara still got home okay.”



“Well, I probably would have anyway,” Tara noted, “even without Angel there. Since Buffy and Faith chased off whatever was following us.” She ran her fingers through her hair, pushing it back from her face, revealing a great deal of relief displayed across her features.



Buffy shook her head. “We don’t have a clue where it went, so there is a possibility it doubled back to go after you again, but saw Angel with you and decided not to. So he could have been protecting you without your even knowing it.”



“Yeah, well yippee, we saved the day.” Faith dropped her feet from the table top with a thunk. “Do you need to ask me what happened again, or can I take off?”



The Watcher nudged his glasses further up on his nose and sighed. “If you’d like to leave, Faith, I don’t see a reason why you can’t. Keep an eye out for our, our pursuer, could you?”



Faith stood and tossed her hair. “It got away from me once, G. I’d kinda like to have it not happen again. If I see it again, that thing is going down.”



“Yes, well, do get in touch with us, if, if you should happen to cross paths with it again.”



“Five by five.” With that, the younger girl turned and exited the library, her distaste for being in the school building readily apparent.



Buffy watched the dark Slayer exit, the library doors swinging shut behind her, closing on a scene of Faith sneering at Cordelia, who had been walking past the library. “So, that’s Faith,” the blonde Slayer commented, looking back to Tara. “She’s just got attitude to spare.”



Tara gave Buffy a gentle smile of understanding. She could tell Faith basically liked to keep people at arm’s length. She suspected that the girl had her own reasons for not getting too close to people, and this seemed to be her way of making sure no one got attached to her. And with Faith being a Slayer, that idea made a certain kind of sense. Though, Tara acknowledged, she much preferred Buffy’s way. “Are we trying again tonight? I mean, to catch the, um, the -”



Mr. Giles immediately shook his head. “Not in the same way as last night, no,” he stated. “In fact, I’d much prefer it if you stayed in tonight, if at all possible with company. Perhaps even at someone else’s home, since whatever's out there knows where you live. It may be safer for you to be elsewhere. We’ll let Buffy and Faith try to find this - this being, on patrol tonight.”



Buffy shook her head. “Yup, just throw me to the lions, Giles,” she said wryly. “I can handle it, I’m sure,” she said in a more even tone. “I mean, I haven’t come across anything so far that I couldn’t handle, eventually.”



“She can stay with me tonight, Giles,” Willow offered. “I mean, i-if you want to, Tara. I’m not saying you have to or anything. Just, you can. My mom and dad wouldn’t mind at all.”



Tara nodded with a half-smile. “I have the night off, so um … staying in isn’t a problem. And I’d like that, a-a lot. Thanks, Willow.”



~~



The rest of the morning passed pretty uneventfully, going to her classes and then spending lunch with Amy. Together they called Michael’s house from the pay phone, and he spoke with them each in turn. Tara wanted to know what had happened, but didn’t think that it would be a good time to ask about it. They arranged to go over to visit with the boy the next evening, now that he was home and resting up. He commented that resting up was incredibly boring and he wished he could have his friends there.



He couldn’t stay on the phone very long, but long enough to let them know that he was definitely getting better. His sense of humor was returning, but when Amy made him laugh it hurt his ribs, so she tried to stop. It didn’t really work out that way, trying to stop making him laugh only made her comments seem that much funnier, so she quickly gave up and handed the phone over to Tara again before they said good bye.



After lunch, her classes seemed to slow to a crawl, her mind continually wandering back to the fact that she would be spending the night at Willow’s house. She wondered what Willow’s house was like, what her parents were like, and whether she would have to sleep in a guest room or if she would get to stay in Willow’s room.



Maybe they would get to talk about magic, maybe even do a simple spell or two. Tara kind of hoped they would, she was curious about how much experience Willow had with magic and what kind of things she could do. In all likelihood they could learn from each other, an exciting possibility. Who would have thought that a seemingly random crush would grow into a friendship? And Tara continued to hold out hope that one day, the pixyish redhead might return the affection Tara had for her.

IttyBittyKitty: "creme filled though...a little subtle there?"
TwiLightJoy: "There are reasons for everything, I tell ya! Chocolate-frosted reasons!"
IttyBittyKitty: "that is quite enough of YOUR sass!"

[diegosmumma]

Yay, sleepover!

I've been quietly reading and enjoying your fic and not posting ...bad, sorry; so here it is.

I'm really liking the just-slightly tweaked AU and your take on all the characters. My favorite fics always seem to early, getting-to-know-each other kind of things. You know I like it when I go back and read it front to back in lieu of catching an update. More please, it's a joy (absolutely no pun intended).

Thanks

Lisa

[DarkWiccan]

Alright!!!



Maybe Tara and Willow can give other makeovers of the life-changing kind...



:: Purrs with delight ::



Yay!



Cheers

DW

[LeatherQueen]

Great update! I love seeing Willow and Tara getting closer together. And a sleep-over. Excellent!

--------------------------------


"But when they're playing your song on the jukebox in Hell, you might as well dance." - K. Simpson


"Futile... like a FOX, baby!" - Tara in The Late Shift by wiccachica

[Zahir al Daoud]

Ah, Willow is just such a generous girl, offering to put up Tara. So generous, so un-selfish, so no-ulterior-motive-y...



Yeah, right.



Meanwhile, I'm hoping Tara meets Sheila and Ira!

"O Let my name be in the Book of Love!
If it be there I care not of that other Book above.
Strike it out! Or write it in anew, but
Let my name be in the Book of Love!"
--Omar Kayam

[Ittybittykitty]

They're gonna do some "spells" eh? heh heh heh.

[xita]

Yay all caught up! I've fallen behind on my fic, but your fic is something I def. want to get back to. Tara met Angel hee. And Faith is in the mix now too. You know season 3 was near perfect but with Tara around it's 1000 times better, if that is even possible. Sleepover yay! They get to hang out!

- - - - - - - - - - - -

"Oooh Xita!" - Amber Benson

[spazz07]

Awesome Update once again Joy, I totally at the disarm comment that Faith made. We also have a sleep-over so a big YAY on that. We'll just have to wait and see what happens next though i'm not thrilled about it, the waiting that is



Cheers

Nath

If life was meant to be a bed of daisy's we'd have chicken crap thown on us all the time.

[mollyig]

Oh yay. Willow asked Tara to stay at her house. I do hope that one of them approaches the idea of them doing magic together.

Adding up the total of a love that's true, multiply life by the power of two
Indigo Girls

[tkheaven]

Wooohhoo! A sleepover! Maybe doing a spell or two, aye?

Tk's new and improved "GrrArgg"

-----------------------------
Tara was similarly riveted, her body on slow burn as Willow's lips parted and her mouth opened, the food slipping inside and being consumed. Never in her life had Tara ever wanted to be a chicken casserole so badly...Later that night..."It's good to be a chicken casserole," Tara murmured, before passing out. ~ Answering Darkness by Sassette

[KathleenWolf]

just managed to catch up... wooo... definately a better season three with Tara there... and I like how your contrasting the Amy/Michael with the Scoobies...



and only good things can come from a sleepover... or at least I hope

bravo

kathleen

"I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine."

To The Land of The RainbowWriters

[jdcioffi]

I like slumber parties -- of the two girl kinda.



I never liked Amy much, but I seem to like yours. And I like that Tara has more friends than just the Scoobies. It's a nice contrast to the way she was depicted in the show.



Looking forward to more

JD

"I smell the smelly smell of something that smells smelly!" (SpongeBob Squarepants)

[TheWhiz]

Loved the updates!

Great to see Angel & Faith added to the ever expanding ensemble

Ooh sleepover...

"I am a whiz...If ever a whiz there was"

[TwiLightJoy]

Hey everybody, thanks for reading and for your comments! I'm glad I got someone to laugh with Faith's definition of 'disarm.' That was a fun scene to write. Um, so now for some more stuff! It's kinda short, but let me know what you think.



After school got out, Tara met Willow in the library. Mr. Giles reminded the girls to stay off the streets after dark, as though they had somehow forgotten over the course of the day. “Don’t worry, Giles, we’ll be fine,” Willow reassured him. “We’ll go to my house, study, have dinner, and watch some movies or something. It’ll be no problem at all.”



After that, they had gone over to Tara’s apartment to pick up her overnight things and clothes for the next day. Willow had never seen the inside of the building, and she seemed to like the apartment quite a bit. The décor was definitely unique. Tara had fashioned a fish tank out of an old tv set, taking the innards of the machine out and replacing it with a relatively small tank. A small school of darts swam around happily inside, with a pair of snails clinging to the glass. This sat on a round end table on one side of the sofa, which was actually a plywood-topped tripod table draped with bright-colored fabric to hide its cheap looks.



There was no room for a coffee table, so a second end table was made out of another old television set on its side. Neither of the televisions had been in working order, so she had picked up both of them for $5, sure she could do something with them. She had the fish tank in mind from the start, but the end table came kind of unexpectedly, having set it up on its side while gutting the tv she was converting to the tank. The once-tacky green sofa that had come with the apartment was now tightly covered in cool purple bed sheets, neatly changing the color without having to reupholster it. Blue and red throw pillows completed the look.



Near the windows, where the small room turned abruptly from living room to kitchen, Tara had set up an old patio set. The metal had been once painted black, but was scratched up and rusty when she’d bought it, it’s past-its-prime looks giving it an incredibly low price tag. She had sanded, primed, and repainted the table and four chairs in cheery bright colors, and cleaned the transparent top perfectly. White cushions made the seats both attractive and comfortable, accentuating the new colors of the set perfectly. She hadn’t had a lot of money to work with, but she knew where to put the money she had to best use, almost innately knowing what to buy and what to do on her own.



“Wow, Tara, this place looks really great!” Willow said with a wide grin.



“Thanks, I um, I did most of it myself. If I ever have to move out, I haven’t done anything permanent to the place, so I can take it all with me,” she said proudly. “If you want to have a seat while I get my things together, I’ll be right out.” With that, she disappeared into the bedroom, quickly putting together an overnight bag before re-emerging. She found Willow lying on her stomach across the couch, feet in the air, watching the fish swim around the tank. “Hey,” she said quietly, not wanting to startle the tiny witch.



Willow looked up with a smile. “Hi, I was watching the fish, a-and the snails.”



“Yeah, relaxing, isn’t it?” the fair-haired witch queried. She knelt down next to the other girl, looking into the tank with her. “They all have names, I can tell them apart by their markings,” she confided.



“Really? That’s nice, what are their names?”



Tara pointed out each fish in turn. “That’s Zeus, with the big dot. There’s Kali. This one is Ra. Over there is Venus, and the one with just the little spot on his tail is Zip. And the snails are Mr. T and Morgan. But I really can’t tell them apart, so the names are kind of interchangeable.” She grinned. “So as soon as I feed these guys, I’m ready to go.”



“Okay, ‘cause I’m ready when you are,” Willow said, watching as Tara lifted the top of the old tv set off and dropped in the flakes that she stored under the table, which the darts eagerly gobbled up.



“Eat up, kids, I’ll be back tomorrow!” the golden-haired witch laughed. She stood and dusted off her pants, and Willow rolled into a sitting position on the couch. “So I was thinking about getting maybe a frog for the fish tank, too,” Tara said to Willow. “What do you think?”



She looked down to see Willow wide-eyed and almost in shock. “No frogs!” she said quickly, shaking her head. “I, um, it - it’s kind of embarrassing. I have frog-fear.” She looked up sheepishly, meeting Tara’s blue eyes.



“No frogs, check.” The taller girl smiled. “I want my apartment to be Willow-friendly,” she explained, offering a hand to Willow, who took it as she rose from the couch, then held it for a few moments before letting go.



~~



Willow’s house was pretty nice. When they got there, Tara was introduced to Mr. and Mrs. Rosenberg, who seemed very kind, if a little distracted. The tour of the house was brief, and Tara was a little disappointed to see that they did have a guest room. It was incredibly clean and utterly devoid of personality, which, to Tara, made it a dull and lifeless space. Willow’s room, on the other hand, was a lot nicer. She had a really big fish tank on one wall, and glass doors leading outside on the opposite wall, which Tara thought was really cool. In a way it reminded her of the window-seat at her old house, a place where the indoors met nature.



“I like your room, Willow,” Tara commented, heading over to look out the doors. “Actually, I like it a lot better than the guest room. It’s so sterile in there.” She turned to her friend. “I mean, it’s, it’s nice and everything, don’t get me wrong. It just doesn’t have any-”



Willow nodded. “I know what you mean. It’s empty. My parents, they try and everything, but nothing they do can make the guest room feel like it’s a part of the rest of the house. It’s just kind of … there.” She smiled, her mouth curving gently upwards and her whole face lighting up. “If you want, you can sleep in here. We have an air mattress I can use; you can have the bed. Then we can stay up later, and talk. Or, um, whatever.”



“That sounds great,” Tara replied, hoping she didn’t sound over-eager.

IttyBittyKitty: "creme filled though...a little subtle there?"
TwiLightJoy: "There are reasons for everything, I tell ya! Chocolate-frosted reasons!"
IttyBittyKitty: "that is quite enough of YOUR sass!"

[DarkWiccan]

::jumps up and down with wild and reckless abandon and joy::







MORE

MORE

MORE!!!









DW

[xita]

Oh , i hope we get more of the sleepover later. Tara's so clever she angled herself right into Willow's bedroom

- - - - - - - - - - - -

"Oooh Xita!" - Amber Benson