Short Fics by tarawhipped (UPDATED 6/2/07)

[pipsberg]

I love your short fics Cam. Thanks for adding another one. This was a very nice, introspective piece. I love NMR and post-NMR fics and you didn't dissapoint here. Wonderful job

Peace.

[Trom DeGrey]

Wow, Cam, this really reached out and grabbed me. Willow's post-attack fear is something I can't ever remember anyone else really exploring and you pressed right down to the heart of it.

how she lingered around them in a desperate need to never be caught alone

That's so telling, so genuine. Very unnerving. Very thought-provoking too. Great addition!

[tarawhipped]

Yay! More lovely feedback!

ringwaldoeuvre: Yikes, Mary...I feel fortunate that you had time to leave me fb at all! Thank you. I don't usually write introspective, desriptive stories, and I appreciate the positive comments. Cowboy Junkies indeed rule...my wife knows I'd leave her for Margo Timmins, and she's remarkably understanding about it.[br]
UnderTheirSpell: WOOHOO! I'm disturbed! Go me! I'm so glad you enjoyed the funnies, even if I have to wonder if your flu delirium made me seem more witty than I really am. Thanks so much, and please give my apologies to your wife for the interrupted sleep. [br]
pipsberg: Thank you, Pips! I know I don't do introspective often, so it's nice to get the thumbs up from others. I'm a sucker for Season 4 fics, and it was nice to revisit that episode. I'm very glad you liked it.[br]
Trom DeGrey: You know, I never really gave much thought to Willow's post attack fear either, until the parallel struck me here. It made me look at some of her behavior afterwards in a different light though...in particular, when she interrupts Buffy and Riley's picnic. That's where that line about not being alone came from, and it's nice to see that it struck a cord in others. Thank you, Trom.

[tarawhipped]

Title: Happy Campers
Author: Tarawhipped (Cameron)
Email: tarawhipped@hotmail.com
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: All characters are the property of Joss Whedon/Mutant Enemy
Feedback: You betcha!
Distribution: Sure, just tell me where so I can visit
Summary: Tara takes Willow on her first camping trip.
Notes: Technically this is set in the canon universe, though it takes place in May of 2003, so it assumes certain stupid things did not take place the year before. No Hellmouthy happenings here, however.[br]
Dedicated to: My best friend, Beth, who would have been completely justified in leaving me to walk home after our first camping trip, and to Ang, who is an excellent navigator, even if her driving is terrifying.[br][br][br][br]
Happy Campers[br][br][br]
It had seemed like a good idea at the time. Or if not good, then at least different. A long weekend. Camping out. Canoeing. People do it all the time, right? Just ‘cause I never had, didn’t mean it wouldn’t be fun. But somehow, some way, it had all gone horribly, horribly wrong.[br][br][br][br]
Tara strode into the bedroom, where Willow was sitting at her desk, hunched over her computer. The hacker deftly manipulated the mouse with one hand, while the other clutched her enormous “Wiccans do it magically” mug, a gift from Tara to mark Willow’s 1-year anniversary of no superfluous magic use.[br]
“Will, do you have to work next Friday?”[br]
Willow looked blankly at Tara. Her eyelids drooped and she blinked them rapidly, attempting to focus her frazzled brain. She drained the last of her coffee and set the mug down, frowning in thought.[br]
“Friday? Tomorrow?”[br]
“Not tomorrow, sweetie,” Tara said gently, stroking Willow’s unruly mop of hair. “Next Friday—the second. May 2nd,” she added, just to be clear. Willow had been pulling all nighters every day this week, needlessly paranoid about her finals, as usual, despite her unblemished academic record. Tara was familiar enough with the routine that she no longer feared for her girlfriend’s health, but it still left little of Willow’s busy brain available for more routine cognitive functions, like basic conversational skills…or knowing what day it was.[br]
“Next,” Willow repeated, her eyes glazing over as if the mere thought of anything beyond her Complex Analysis with Applications final the next day was beyond the scope of her understanding.[br]
Tara waited patiently. Minutes passed.[br]
“I just, I thought we could go away for the weekend,” she eventually continued. “For Beltaine. Maybe go camping? But if you have to work…”[br]
“Uh huh. I mean, no,” Willow shook her head, and Tara breathed a sigh of relief, realizing that she’d finally managed to break through the haze of analytic continuation, branch cuts, conformal mapping, and whatever else it was Willow had in her head that made Tara’s brain hurt to even contemplate. “I mean yes, I’m starting work on Monday, but they said the schedule is flexible, as long as I can get all the work done. I’m sure it won’t be a problem to take Friday off. So…camping?”[br]
“There’s a place a few hours from here,” Tara nodded. “We can rent a canoe, and I thought we could borrow Xander’s tent.”[br]
“That sounds great, baby,” Willow smiled, rolling her shoulders to relieve the tension from her hours in front of the computer. She reached for Tara’s hand and drew her down for a kiss before tilting her head towards the monitor. “I still have some work to finish, but maybe later—”[br]
“It’s okay,” Tara interjected. “You study, I’ll make the arrangements.”[br]
“Thanks Tare,” Willow said as she relinquished her girlfriend’s hand to take up the mouse again. Her mumbled reply of “love you, too” as Tara exited the room made the blonde shake her head in amusement.[br]
‘Lost her again to the god of higher math.’[br][br][br][br]
The week passed swiftly, and by 8:00 am on Friday morning, Buffy’s Jeep was loaded and ready to go. Dawn had begged to go too, and it was only after Tara had explained that they would be miles away from the mall, movie theater, telephone, and her new boyfriend that the teenager decided that camping sounded thoroughly unappealing.[br]
Willow had just started the engine when Buffy came rushing out of the house to thrust a bag through the open window onto Tara’s lap. The blonde peeked inside at the stakes, cross, and several plastic water pistols, no doubt filled with holy water.[br]
“Just in case,” the Slayer smiled.[br][br][br][br]
The drive was pretty. Well, the first three hours of it was. The next three…not so much.[br]
“Shouldn’t we be there by now?” Willow whined for the fifth time.[br]
Tara peered over the map and frowned. “Did you say we passed a sign for the 47 or the 74?”[br]
“It was the 38,” Willow snapped, clutching the steering wheel in a death grip and marking the progression of the steel gray clouds off to the west. “And we passed it a half hour ago.”[br]
“We could have taken the 38,” Tara muttered. “It crosses over to the 194 and merges into 65. The campground is on 65.”[br]
“Well why didn’t you tell me before?”[br]
“I didn’t see the sign, you did! I was looking at that cloud you insisted looked like Bea Arthur—which, by the way, it did not. And I told you to look for the 38,” Tara insisted.[br]
“Yeah—look for it, not take it!” Willow countered, knowing she was pushing it.[br]
“Why else would I tell you to look for it?”[br]
Willow pulled the Jeep to a stop in the middle of the deserted road and turned toward Tara.[br]
“So we’re lost?”[br][br][br][br]
An hour and a half later, Tara eased the Jeep into the drive for the Will-o’-the-Wisp Campground. Willow raised her eyebrows.[br]
“Cute.”[br]
“I thought so,” Tara replied quietly, shutting off the engine but making no move to get out of the car. She kneaded the steering wheel and cleared her throat. “Will, I’m sorry about the, you know, drive. I should have been paying better attention.”[br]
“I’m sorry I got mad,” Willow offered in return. “And I didn’t mean what I said about your eyesight…or your ability to read.”[br]
Tara smiled hesitantly at Willow. When it was returned, she leaned across the seat and kissed her softly.[br]
“Mmm,” Willow sighed, giving Tara a saucy grin. “You know, it’s a good thing you have other skills, baby, ‘cause you really are a terrible navigator.”[br]
“Well, you drive like an old lady,” Tara laughed. “Now come on, let’s get checked in and get the tent set up. Maybe I can demonstrate some of those ‘other’ skills.”[br]
Willow didn’t hear anything after ‘maybe I can,’ as she was already out of the car and rushing to the office. While Tara paid for several bundles of firewood, Willow fidgeted through the manager’s explanation of the campground’s rules and facilities and practically snatched the map out of the woman’s hand in her haste to get back to the car.[br]
Under Willow’s direction, they found their site in no time, and had fully unloaded the car.[br][br][br][br]
Peals of thunder sounded in the distance, and a cool gust of wind blew through the small clearing. Willow threw both arms over the top of the small dome tent to prevent it from being blown away. Again. She breathed deeply through her nose, her nostrils flaring as she glared at Tara’s feet, sticking out of the back of the Jeep. She could envision her girlfriend’s contrite expression even before she crawled out of the vehicle and turned to face Willow.[br]
“They aren’t there,” Tara curtly confirmed.[br]
“I thought you checked everything before we left,” Willow accused. “‘Leave everything to me; I’ll take care of it,’” she said, mimicking Tara’s words from the week before.[br]
“Xander said it was all there, I just assumed—”[br]
Willow harrumphed.[br]
“Yeah, well, you know when you assume, it makes an—”[br]
“Willow,” Tara warned. “It’s okay, we can improvise. They’re just tent spikes, for God’s sakes, we can anchor it with rocks if we have to.”[br]
Tara ignored Willow’s mumbling and went back to rummage in the car. She emerged after several minutes, triumphantly producing a jack handle and the bag of wooden stakes.[br][br][br][br]
The sky had darkened noticeably when they emerged from the tent an hour later, rumpled, but grinning.[br]
“I am starving,” Willow exclaimed.[br]
“Worked up an appetite, hmm?” Tara beamed, embracing her girlfriend. Their growling stomachs prevented a mad dash back into the tent, and with a final kiss, Tara walked over to the cooler they’d set next to the picnic table. “Why don’t you get the fire going and I’ll see what we can whip up.”[br]
Willow looked up at the sky.[br]
“Are you sure we have time? It looks like it’s going to start pouring any second.”[br]
Tara followed Willow’s gaze, and while she agreed that the dark clouds looked ominous, she wasn’t about to let a little rain spoil what had already been a less than ideal excursion.[br]
“We have time. It probably won’t rain for another couple hours.”[br][br][br][br]
Fifteen minutes later, Willow peeled a soaking wet sock off, tossed it towards the front of the tent where it made a loud smack on the tarp, and began peeling off the other one. Tara sighed and continued wringing the water out of her hair. A stomach growled loudly. Tara pulled a half-crushed granola bar out of the pocket of her shorts and silently handed it to Willow.[br]
“We could play cards?” the blonde suggested in a hopeful voice.[br]
“They’re on the picnic table,” Willow answered, biting into the granola bar.[br]
Tara’s shoulders slumped, the exhaustion of the long day settling over her.[br]
“I’m going to take a nap.”[br][br][br][br]
Tara awoke several hours later to an empty tent. She unzipped the flap, confirming that the rain had ceased, and scooted out. The wood they’d left by the fire pit was soaked, but the bundle she’d placed under the picnic table seemed fairly dry. She approached the Jeep to retrieve some more newspaper and noticed that the rear hatch was open. When she walked around to the back, she saw Willow sitting there, her legs dangling over the edge, typing on her laptop.[br]
“Willow!”[br]
“What?”[br]
Tara stared at the startled redhead.[br]
“You brought your computer,” she stated, “on a camping trip.”[br]
“Why not?” Willow frowned.[br]
“Why not? We’re supposed to be, I don’t know, communing with nature.”[br]
“Yeah, well, nature communed all over us for an hour. You were asleep. What’s the big deal?”[br]
“You’re right, it’s fine,” Tara conceded before another argument could begin. “I’m going to try to get the fire started.”[br][br][br][br]
Willow slapped another mosquito and flicked its remains off of her arm.[br]
“Tara, baby, maybe we should just go to bed.”[br]
“It’s not even 9 o’clock,” the blonde muttered, holding her breath as the log on the framework of kindling stopped sizzling and the flames took root. “I think we’ve got it,” she whispered, a wide smile breaking out over her face.[br]
“It’s just, it’s been a really long day, and I’m kind of tired.”[br]
“But we have marshmallows,” Tara said, holding up the bag.[br]
Willow’s face fell at Tara’s obvious disappointment.[br]
“I’m still feeling kind of ooky from the cold tofu dog,” she admitted apologetically. “Marshmallows tomorrow?”[br]
Tara nodded and forced a smile.[br]
“I’m going to stay up a while, enjoy the fire. Okay?”[br]
“Of course,” Willow replied, leaning over to give Tara a lingering kiss. “Love you.”[br]
“Love you, too.”[br][br][br][br]
Willow emerged from the tent the next morning to find Tara already hunched over the fire pit, stirring eggs in the cast iron skillet. The redhead grabbed her toothbrush, toothpaste, and a towel and hiked down to the bathrooms. When she returned, Tara handed her a plate and poured her a mug of coffee. They ate in silence. Afterwards, Willow took the plates and utensils to the bathroom to wash them. She came back and sat on the log facing Tara.[br]
“So. No bears?”[br]
Tara looked up from the fire and scowled at her girlfriend.[br]
“The manager came by this morning and issued a warning. Several people complained about the screaming.”[br]
“Oops?” Willow grimaced. “I really thought it was a bear.”[br]
Tara went back to poking at the fire with a stick.[br][br][br][br]
The sun was shining as the van unloaded its passengers at the canoe dock. Willow studied the laminated map of the river while Tara retrieved paddles and life vests from the boathouse. Together they carried their assigned canoe to the edge of the water and set it down. They donned their life vests, loaded the paddles and Willow’s backpack in the boat, and prepared to shove off, both motioning for the other to take the bow. Tara looked at Willow warily.[br]
“You know the person in back steers, right?”[br]
Willow leveled her eyes at Tara.[br]
“Okay, okay,” the blonde replied, raising her hands and climbing into the bow.[br]
Willow pushed the boat out of the shallows and hopped in, sending the canoe tipping dangerously from side to side until Tara was able to counterbalance it. She rolled her eyes and said a silent prayer as she waited for Willow to settle onto her seat.[br][br][br][br]
“Left! Left, Will!”[br]
The canoe continued to head straight towards the tree stump sticking out of the water. With less than a foot before impact, Tara reached out with her paddle, braced it against the stump, and shoved hard. The crisis averted, they slowly continued past the hazard and Tara looked over her shoulder.[br]
“I thought you said you could steer?”[br]
“Well, it’s supposed to be simple physics,” Willow insisted with a defeated sigh. “Maybe we should switch.”[br]
Tara looked to both banks, but each was lined with saplings and thick brush jutting out over the water. She tested the depth of the water with her oar.[br]
“Let’s get a little closer to the bank, it should be shallower.”[br]
Willow scooted to the center of the canoe while Tara stabilized it from the bow. Once the redhead was in the middle, she stopped to allow Tara to turn and carefully climb over her seat. The blonde steadied herself with a hand on Willow’s shoulder…the shoulder that suddenly rose as Willow leapt to her feet.[br]
“Frog!” she shrieked at the tiny amphibian that hopped from the embankment into the water just to the left of the canoe.[br]
Willow didn’t feel the hand leave her shoulder, or see the arms desperately flailing behind her. She did, however, hear the loud splash.[br][br][br][br]
Over the next hour, Tara’s mood improved in direct correlation with her clothes drying.[br]
“Isn’t this beautiful, Will?” Tara exclaimed happily, resting her paddle across the gunwale and tilting her head back to feel the warm rays of the sun on her face. “So peaceful and calming and—”[br]
“You’re not paddling,” Willow said, shooting an accusatory glance back at Tara.[br]
“It’s not a race, Willow. We’re on a lazy river, we don’t have to be anywhere, there’s no timetable. Relax. Enjoy yourself.”[br]
Willow closed her eyes and nodded.[br]
“I know, Tare. I’m being antsy, no fun, get to the goal girl. I’m just not used to this. You grew up doing this stuff, but I wasn’t even allowed to join the Girl Scouts. My mom said scouting was pseudo-militaristic and reinforced the patriarchy by teaching boys survival skills and girls how to macramé potholders.”[br]
Tara shook her head. She knew Willow was trying, and had only agreed to come because she knew how much it meant to Tara.[br]
“It’s okay, sweetie. This weekend hasn’t worked out the way I planned, but this is nice, right? And at least it’s not raining today.”[br][br][br][br]
The storm came out of nowhere. One moment it was a beautiful sunny day, the next a torrential downpour was soaking the canoe, the girls, and Willow’s backpack, in which their wallets and digital camera were now swimming. They paddled hard, following several other canoes they could just make out through the driving sheets of rain. Twenty minutes that felt like an hour later, the storm passed as quickly as it had appeared. Tara’s entire body slouched in utter defeat. There was no way she’d ever get Willow to go camping again.[br]
She looked up to see Willow’s shoulders shaking, and her heart seized painfully. She spied a dock and recognized the lot where they’d parked their car earlier in the day. She ceased paddling to allow Willow to stop crying before they reached their destination.[br]
“Willow?” she said softly.[br]
“Woooohooo!” Willow shouted, standing up and holding her oar aloft.[br]
Tara’s mouth dropped open in shock, which only grew when Willow turned around with an enormous grin on her face, and jumped into the water.[br]
“Willow!”[br]
The redhead surfaced, floating on her back, still smiling at a wide-eyed Tara. Willow swam over to the side of the canoe, took the hand that Tara instinctively held out, and pulled the blonde into the river.[br]
They were both laughing in between kisses when Willow looked up and gasped. She squeezed Tara’s hand, and they both silently tread water as they gazed at the enormous rainbow that shone over the river.[br][br][br][br]
Back at the campsite, an unspoken decision was made to postpone lunch, despite the fact they were both famished from the day’s exertion. Over the next several hours, there was a great deal more exerting going on, and the swaying of the tent had nothing to do with the breeze.[br][br][br][br]
“What are you two doing back already?” Buffy asked, surprised upon returning home from patrol to find her housemates unloading the Jeep. “I thought you were staying ‘til tomorrow.”[br]
“Oh, um, we were sort of…asked to leave.” Tara’s blush was visible even in the dim light of the porch and she looked pointedly at Willow.[br]
“Oh no. Don’t give me that look, missy! That was your screaming this time.”[br][br][br][br]
Okay, so maybe it didn’t all go horribly wrong. Parts of it were neat! And who cares if we can’t ever go back to the Will-o’-the-Wisp Campground? There’re tons of campgrounds out there, and you can even reserve a site—a nice secluded site—over the internet. But not site 14R at the Witchy Winds Campground over 4th of July weekend. That one’s taken. [br][br][br]
The End[br][br]

[watty]

Yay for insomnia, Cam.

There's a relaxed, vignette-y feel about these, like the camera following the girls from one mishap to another. And really, what else could have gone wrong? I mean, not disasterously wrong but -- getting lost, no tent spikes, the unpredictable weather, fire-starting, the screaming, the canoe adventure. But they still have each other, and the

“Woooohooo!” Willow shouted, standing up and holding her oar aloft.

when Tara expected a Willow-sulk brought a huge indulgent smile to my face. And of course the, ahem, celebration in the tent.

It really is about who you travel with isn't it. I'm sure I'm insufferable to travel with -- need routes all planned out, get grumpy if I'm hungry, constantly disappear to do my own thing or take pictures -- but I've developed travel rapport with a few people and it's a joy.
[br]

[FineyMcFine]

Ha ha ha ha ha! I laughed and laughed while I read this, for a couple of reasons. First, it's funny and your writing, as always, is fantastic, Cam. I loved the "Tara waited patiently. Minutes passed." So spare, so full at the same time. Muahahahah!

Second, I've had some doozies of camping experiences, which adds to the delightful humor of it all. Once Mrs. McFine and I went camping and I forgot to pack the tent. We had to go buy one. Just last weekend we were camping and it rained so much that the field turned into a giant mudpile. Once we went camping in October or November and woke up to gunfire - it was deer hunting season and we had camped in a hunting area!

I love this story, Cam! LOVE IT.

[WickedReds]

Cam!
What wonderful timing u have... Im going camping soon... and i swear to the powers that be... if i get pour on while cooking im gonna... laugh my ass off... Great little story puts me more in the mood for camping. Anywhooo... the driving argument reminded me of my girlfriend and I arguing over how to get out of Philly and back in to New Jersey... ahhh road trips and such what fun to be had!!! cant wait of another one of ur awesome updates...

-reds

[JustSkipIt]

Hey Cam,
Well, that's exactly the type of thinking I was up for doing this afternoon -- very little. What a very funny and adorable and familiar feeling story. I mean who hasn't had that camping experience with the rain and the cold food and the getting asked... wait a minute on that one. Mrs. and I once tipped our canoe losing our camera, 2 pairs of sun glasses, a book, and getting soaked. Worse, we didn't know how to right it so we swam in from the center of the lake tugging it with (took about an hour and a half). Still, we had fun. For me camping food is like Spagetti-os and mac & cheese and I feel like people who shoot higher are just asking for trouble. I love Willow's change in attitude here--she finally gets having fun. Tee hee.

One question: they eat tofu dogs rather than meat but also eat marshmellows? Well, I guess everyone draws a line somewhere...

[GayNow]

Nicely done, Cam! Very funny!

Now where's IoD?

I love you, Cameron of the Gay!

[taralicious]

Cam,
You so vividly and descriptively provided us with the highs and lows of camping, have you ever considered doing a Willow and Tara travel guide?
Or maybe your own outdoor life television series?
Picture the theme song:
"So join us here in the great outdoors, land of Willow and Tara."
Willow and Tara are assured a place in the brochure for the Will-O-The-Wisp campground under the heading "Things which are mutually pleasurable but will get you banished."
It will be a talking point for years to come as people will say "Wow, now those two women came and went almost as quickly."
I too am enamored of Willow's endearing defiance of the storm and all other karmic forces at work to spoil their weekend together.
They both endured everything that was set before them and emerged victorious the way they do it best, screaming each other's names out and forcing the other campers to banish them in order to remove the sharp relief their own drab lives seem in comparison.

[behindhereyes]

Hi there Cam

I had actually just gone camping a few weeks ago. I loved this , and extremely happy I ran across it.

Miss you all terribly, give my best to Ang.

behindhereyes
Kim

[CaptMurdock]

So, tara actualy thought Willow would got on a camping trip without the laptop. Are you kidding me?

Great fun to read, especially as Willow, in the middle of a canoe in the middle of a downpour, finally finds the fun...and pulls Tara in too.

"We were sorta asked to leave." Snerk!

[tarawhipped]

Replies for Happy Campers:

There's a relaxed, vignette-y feel about these

I'm glad you noticed, 'cause I've never written vignette-y, but thought it suited this story. And I'm sure other things could have gone wrong, but I didn't want to make it so miserable that they couldn't still have a good time.

It really is about who you travel with isn't it.

Absolutely. I don't think you ever know someone until you've travelled with them, or moved with them. In my experience, it brings out stress responses that you don't get in everyday situations. That can either be good or bad, of course. As well as we travel together, if Ang and I are on a roadtrip of more than 4 hours, there's going to be at least a 15 minute stretch where we don't talk to each other, and it's invariably due to me driving too slow for her (i.e. not 90 mph).


Sallypants, your camping adventures with Mrs. McFine had me chuckling. About half of the events in this fic are based on my actual camping experiences (not the screaming!). I didn't go camping until I was 20, and even now I get freaked out at every noise for the first night, and by the third day I want a bed and a hot shower, so I'm not a very good camper. Even I never left the tent at home, though.


Thanks, Gina! It's so nice to see people relating to this, since it's the only thing I've ever written that's remotely autobiographical. That sudden downpour actually happened to me and my best friend, and it could have absolutely sucked, but we just started laughing our asses off. I think that's the key to good travels: maintaining a sense of humor. I'm glad you liked it.

One question: they eat tofu dogs rather than meat but also eat marshmallows?

I didn't mean to imply that they were vegetarian (since they weren't on the show)...I just like the phrase "tofu pups." Very good noticing, though. I always forget that marshmallows are a no-no.

Thanks for adding more real life camping misadventures! On the camping/canoeing trip that inspired this, we tipped the canoe, too, though only one of us fell out. Funny that I can't remember if it was me or Beth...which must mean that it was her.


Thank you, Carleen, I'm glad you liked.

have you ever considered doing...your own outdoor life television series?

LOL. See above r.e. "bad camper." I'm game for any road trip, and can take camping in small doses, but among my likes are things like clean sheets, and hot baths, and food served at a table bereft of bugs. Call me crazy.


Kim, it was so nice to see your feedback, and I hope your camping trip went more smoothly than W/T's did. Thanks for the well-wishes, and right back atcha.

So, tara actually thought Willow would go on a camping trip without the laptop.

I know! Silly lesbian. I think that's why my wife has never built me a laptop...she knows I'd take it on vacation. Thanks, Capt., I'm glad you enjoyed it.[br][br]

[tarawhipped]

Author: Tarawhipped (Cameron)
Email: tarawhipped@hotmail.com
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: All characters are the property of Joss Whedon/Mutant Enemy
Feedback: You betcha!
Distribution: Sure, just tell me where so I can visit
Summary: Tara doesn’t leave after the Tabula Rasa spell, she makes a deal with Willow to teach her a lesson.
[br][br][br][br]
Title: Lesson Learned[br][br]
Willow Rosenberg—straight-A student, hacker supreme, witch extraordinaire—had rarely met a lesson from which she couldn’t glean some knowledge. One could even say she was all about the learning. Unfortunately, over the course of her academic career and personal growth, she had failed to absorb one simple snippet of truth: that just because one could do something didn’t mean that one should do something.[br]
Not to say that others hadn’t tried to impart this pearl of wisdom. Giles had advised caution on a number of occasions—in his usual well meaning yet vaguely condescending manner. Tara, on the other hand, had tried a more direct approach…[br][br]
“God, what is wrong with you?”[br][br]
…but that hadn’t gone very well.[br]
So Tara did the only thing she could think of—no, not leave Willow! That would be silly. Tara realized that she had to make Willow understand the error of her ways through the redhead’s forte: education. The lesson would be simple, yet effective.[br]
After packing up a box of various herbs and sundry magic items, and waiting for Willow to finish her bathroom crying jag, Tara summoned her wayward lover into the boudoir and gave her first instruction.[br]
“Have a seat,” she said, pointing an imperious finger at the desk chair strategically placed facing the bed.[br]
“Baby, I’m so sorry, you have to know that—”[br]
“Will. Enough with the ‘baby’ talk. Park it,” Tara said firmly, pointing again to the chair.[br]
Willow meandered over in a daze and sat down obediently, sniffling away the last of her tears. Tara walked to the foot of the bed and stood with her hands on her hips, the very picture of authority.[br]
“I’ve tried to make you understand, Will. Magic is not to be toyed with, but you just won’t get it.”[br]
Willow found herself glued to her seat. No, really—she was literally glued to it, which she realized with some concern. She looked over at the desk and saw the empty tube of Maxi-stick. Tara, who was obviously fully aware of Willow’s predicament, having been the cause of it, kept right on talking.[br]
“You’ve been using magic to make decorations, and get dressed, and do the dishes, and change the channel—I mean, come on, Will, is it so damn hard to use the remote? So, since you seem to think it’s okay to just use magic for every little thing, I’m going to give you a choice.”[br]
Tara paused to assess Willow’s level of comprehension. The redhead had stopped trying to wrench her ass off the chair and was at that very moment trying to think of a spell to either dissolve glue or make her jeans disappear. Unfortunately, she couldn’t do the former, and she wasn’t entirely sure that doing the latter wouldn’t leave her actual skin glued in place of the pants. She noticed Tara looking at her expectantly.[br]
“Um. What?”[br]
“Option A,” Tara stated, “is you give up all non-essential magic use for a period of time to be determined by me.” Tara duly noted the appearance of Willow’s frowny face. “Option B is you continue to use magic as you have been.”[br]
Willow stopped fidgeting and stared at Tara, waiting for the catch. Tara seemed to be done talking though, which Willow found both surprising and very, very suspicious. Understandably feeling a little peeved about the whole gluing thing, Willow lifted her chin, looked her presumptuous girlfriend in the eye, and made her choice…[br]
“B.”[br]
…which was, of course, the wrong choice.[br]
Tara smiled, and Willow would have been her usual giddy self at the sight of Tara-grin, but it was more of a knowing smirk—an ‘I know something you don’t know and you’re not going to like it’ smile. When Tara followed up the smile by stripping off her shirt, however, Willow decided she needed to re-catalog her library of Tara expressions. The occasional blonde did not stop there, but proceeded to remove all of her clothing and sit down on the bed, leaning back provocatively on her elbows.[br]
Willow thought she recognized Tara’s ‘come-hither’ gaze, but she was sadly unable to comply since, you know…butt…glue…chair.[br]
“Willow, I want you to make love to me,” Tara stated.[br]
Willow immediately tried to rip herself off of her seat, but only managed to hop the chair forward several inches. Tara bit her lip and shook her head.[br]
“Not like that, sweetie,” she said, laughing softly. “With magic.”[br]
Willow narrowed her eyes, sensing she was being played.[br]
“Come on, Will, you use magic for everything else. Why do it the hard way when you could just conjure me an orgasm?”[br]
What followed could best be described as an impressive combination of guffaw and harrumph, harmonized with a high-pitched whining sound, and all accompanied to the steady thump-thump-thump of the chair legs bopping to the thrashing redhead’s staccato beat.[br]
“What’s wrong, Willow?” Tara asked sweetly, scrunching up her forehead. “I would think you’d be happy, since this way your neck won’t get stiff and your hand won’t cramp up. Isn’t this better?” she asked with an exaggerated innocence, throwing in some eyelash batting for good measure.[br]
Willow’s shoulders sagged in utter defeat. Tara sat up and crossed her legs primly.[br]
“Let me get this straight,” Willow said. “You’re saying that I can continue to use magic any way I see fit, but if I do, then…”[br]
“You can’t touch me,” Tara confirmed with a nod.[br]
Willow stared down at the floor for several minutes, her face contorting as an array of thoughts and emotions debated in her head. Finally, she looked up sheepishly at Tara.[br]
“Uh, what was Option A again?”[br]
Tara stood up and retrieved her clothes that, much to Willow’s dismay, she began to put back on.[br]
“Option A is that you only use magic to defend yourself or others from evil forces. Anything else, you need to get permission from me or Anya first.”[br]
“Anya?” Willow sputtered.[br]
“Yes, Anya. She’s the only other Scooby who can be impartial,” Tara stated, crossing her arms. “Face it, Will…Buffy and Xander have been enabling you for years.”[br]
Willow had to concede that point—but only grudgingly.[br]
“Then, at the end of the month—”[br]
“A month? Last night you said a week!” Willow interjected.[br]
“Since you didn’t even go a day, my one week offer is off the table,” Tara stated, zipping up her pants. “You said you could go a month, and I’m going to hold you to it.”[br]
Willow sighed, but nodded her agreement. Tara walked to the desk and grabbed a bottle of Unglued Brand Adhesive Dissolvent. She knelt down in front of Willow and unscrewed the cap.[br]
“I need you to do this, Willow. Do you understand?”[br]
“Yeah,” the redhead admitted sadly. “You’re right, Tare. I’ve been using magic frivolously. It’s better to do some things the old fashioned way…hand cramps and all,” she added with a mischievous grin.[br]
“You won’t have to worry about that just yet,” Tara said. “Option A involves a reward system…or, more like an incentive program.”[br]
“Oh!” Willow exclaimed, fluttering her hands in excitement. “Like a cookie? Or those little gold stars!”[br]
“Not exactly,” Tara replied with a wicked smirk. “I was thinking more in terms of bases…you know, at the end of week one, you get to first base; week two…second base, et cetera.”[br]
All of the mirth, and most of the color, drained from Willow’s face.[br]
“Tara, that’s not funny.”[br]
“Am I laughing?” Tara countered.[br]
“So I can’t kiss you for a week?”[br]
“Of course you can, darling,” Tara said, squeezing a visibly relieved Willow’s knee. “Chastely. On the cheek.”[br]
Willow’s eyes widened and her lower lip began to quiver. She looked like she’d just been diagnosed with cancer of the puppy.[br]
“Okay, maybe on the lips…closed lips, no tongue,” Tara mused. “But don’t even think about feeling me up until the end of week two. I’ll be wearing a bra to bed.”[br]
Willow could see the seriousness on her girlfriend’s face and felt a lump form in her throat. As much as she disliked the terms, she knew that Tara was going to suffer just as much, and the fact that her girlfriend was willing to go to such lengths proved how out of control Willow had been.[br]
“Has it…have I really been that bad?” she asked in a small voice.[br]
“Not even considering the gross violation of trust, you could have gotten us killed, Willow,” Tara replied quietly, though she softened the harsh words by laying a gentle hand on Willow’s arm. “I’m giving you another chance ‘cause we’ve all screwed up. That ‘see no demon’ spell I did on you was wrong, too, and I’m lucky no one was hurt. And I still can’t believe Xander had us doing all that research when he knew he’d summoned that stupid demon. He even let us blame Dawn! What kind of loser lets a teenage girl take the rap for him? But I’m serious, Willow. If you do this again—”[br]
“I won’t! Tara, I promise. I thought there was no harm in what I was doing, but there was—I was harming you…and us.”[br]
Tara sighed in relief, but played one last card, just to be sure.[br]
“Good. I’d hate to see the backup plan implemented,” she said, a hint of foreboding in her tone.[br]
“Backup plan?” Willow enquired hesitantly.[br]
“Mmhm. Remember a few weeks ago when you were singing in the shower?”[br]
Willow blushed. She didn’t know what had come over her that day.[br]
“And remember that micro cassette recorder you gave me for my birthday?”[br]
“Of course, it’s still in the side table since you never use it in class and oh my god, Tara, you didn’t!” Willow's pulse raced and a fine bead of sweat broke out all over her body. Tara had a decidedly evil grin on her face.[br]
“Every day for the next month, if I don’t call one of several people—who you don’t know, so don’t bother trying to find out—a sound file of one Willow Rosenberg’s enthusiastic rendition of Copacabana will be emailed to everyone in the UC Sunnydale directory…including your professors.”[br]
Tara held up the bottle of glue remover and waved it in her girlfriend’s horrified face.[br]
“Have we got a deal?”[br]
“Deal,” Willow squeaked.[br]
Tara nodded and began the process of unsticking Willowbutt from the chair. Willow watched Tara with love, wonder, a deepened respect, and the omnipresent lust.[br]
“Have you ever thought of becoming a reform school warden? ‘Cause you’d be really good at it,” she mused.[br]
Tara snorted laughter.[br]
“Sweetie, if you want to fantasize about a disciplinarian me, go ahead, but you’re only going to torture yourself.”[br]
Finally freed from the chair, Willow stood up stiffly and sighed. She gave Tara her best pout.[br]
“I don’t suppose there’s any chance of there being an accelerated program?”[br]
Tara started to stress the gravity of the situation, but Willow’s contrite smile relieved her worry. The fact that the redhead was being playful rather than defensive proved to Tara that she had gotten through.[br]
“Hey, I said you couldn’t touch me ahead of schedule, I never said I couldn’t have my way with you,” she answered with a wink. “If you take this seriously and exceed all my expectations.”[br]
“I happen to be an excellent student,” Willow said proudly.[br]
“You’re a whiz,” Tara concurred, stepping over to the desk to retrieve from the top drawer a round object, which she tossed to Willow.[br]
“Umm.” The redhead looked at the boob-shaped stress ball in her palm, then raised quizzical eyes to Tara.[br]
“It’s going to be a long three weeks ‘til third base,” Tara explained with a wry grin. “I don’t want your hand cramping up from lack of use.”[br]
Willow’s jaw was still dangling open when Tara gave her a quick peck, so technically it wasn’t a closed mouth kiss, but that didn’t occur to Willow until the sound of Tara’s footsteps descending the stairs reached her addled brain.[br]
“It’s gonna be a long month,” she muttered, contemplating the rubber boob in her hand. It was a poor substitute, but she’d made her bed and now she’d lie in it. Even if only to sleep…fully clothed. She squeezed her hand, feeling the tendons stretch and oppose the tension. She squeezed again and felt the little plastic nipple press into her palm.[br]
“If I do this for three weeks, I’ll have fingers of steel,” she mumbled with awe. “All it takes is time and discipline.”[br]
Somewhere deep in the recesses of Willow’s busy brain, a big cartoon anvil with ‘CLUE’ painted on it fell on a little cartoon Willow, smushing her into a Willow pancake, which a big cartoon spatula pried off of the road. In another section of Willowbrain, a hand opened a file folder neatly labeled ‘Magic,’ flipped forward a few pages, and slammed down a big rubber stamp. In bold face block letters, it read ‘LESSON LEARNED.’[br][br][br]
The End[br][br]

[GayNow]

DIBS!!!!

Once again, great stuff, Cameron of the Gay! I love the command you have over words and language. Everything is so precise -- it really presents us with a clear picture of what's going on.

And, as always, you infuse humor into even the most serious of situations. So wonderful.

I can't wait until there's more from you. Another short...an update to IoD...an update to GER...more Dopey...a sequel to S&S...something completely new. It doesn't matter. Just keep writing and sharing.

Love ya, Cam!

Carleen

[sam]

That was awesome.
I hope she learned her lesson =]
Love sam.xx

[skeeter451]

So since this came up in the update thread I read LL and it was terrific. Good on Willow for finally learning her lesson, but good on Tara for giving it to her...but GOOD!

I also went back and read the rest of the collection.

Well done, Cammie!

--->Susan

[taralicious]

Cam,
This is an aspect of Tara's personality that was rarely seen in the series itself, even when confronting Willow about her over-reliance upon magic as a shortcut to all her problems, the writers tempered and softened Tara's approach.
Leave it to a Kitten, therefore, to lift the veil and show us the lengths that Tara was prepared to go to to teach Willow her object lesson in using magic as a crutch.
Having been through so much together, Tara clearly knows every nuance and rationale which will make Willow see the error of her ways and knows exactly how to impress upon Willow what she'll have to do in order to rebuild her relationship with Tara.
Tara, in a shrewd and devious plan the likes of which Lady Macbeth would be envious of, employs psychology to guide Willow towards the path of redemption.

[FineyMcFine]

Hee hee, Cam - yay! What a delightful way to fix S6 with the magic and all. If only we had actually seen this play out on the small screen. I love your way with words, it always makes me grin.

[edgyqueen]

“But don’t even think about feeling me up until the end of week two. I’ll be wearing a bra to bed.”

HAHAHAHA! I snorted so loudly when I read this line that I almost woke up my girlfriend!

What a fabulous short fic. I'm mostly a lurker here, so I'm terrible about leaving feedback. The quickest way to sum up my feelings is this: I love EVERYTHING you write!

As always, I anxiously await your next contribution...

[spells42]

that was great.

Ah, the ancient and venerable art of with-holding. Tara did it well. I thought the stress boob was a nice touch.

Anne

[wimpy0729]

Hey Cam! What's up?

I am so thrilled to see your "Shorts" back up and running. The camping trip was so much fun and very timely, since me and my girl had just returned from our first. That was quite an experience in itself -- in an RV, having so much fun trying to fit on the dining room table/mini-bed, that we giggled most of the night and woke up with terrible muscle aches. Anyway, great job, as usual. Making so much noise, they were asked to leave made me LMAO.

Now this one was a much better version than what happened in the original. Loved this Tara finally taking control of the magic situation and hitting Willow where it hurt most was just ingenious. I mean, not being able to touch Tara would be absolute torture. I was just talking to my gf today about the fact that in the show (I just happened to notice) that Tara did wear a bra to bed (opening scene of Family), whereas Buffy could run around bouncing braless in a tank top in multiple eps, was just not fair.

Again, great to see your muse is still with you in full force. Keep up the great work. Hope to see more from you soon.

Wimpy

[JustSkipIt]

Cam - What a fantastic little treat.

So Tara did the only thing she could think of—no, not leave Willow! That would be silly.

God, no kidding. Not to mention that it didn't work that well did it? I always felt like the fact that Tara left so "without discussion" (or without much discussion) was a weak point in the idiotic magic=drugs addiction analogy. I mean if your partner had an increasing problem with drugs or alcohol, would you just leave her? I guess that the two mind spells could be seen as Willow starting to take her addiction and abuse Tara with it and maybe that's reason to leave but I don't think that most victims actually do leave. I think most of them make some attempts to help their partner work through the problems. Arggghhh.

Anyway, Tara's solution here seems much better suited to Willow herself. Of course she will be motivated by lovin or lack therof. Woo hoo to Tara for coming up with it. The fact that she taped Willow singing in the shower weeks ago makes me wonder how long she's be contemplating some action or what nefarious purpose she had for taping her lover before this all came down? Sneaky and tricky, that one.

[Knock yourself out]

Lesson Learned was wonderful, chocker with insightful and/or sparkling lines like:

“Face it, Will…Buffy and Xander have been enabling you for years.”
"What kind of loser lets a teenage girl take the rap for him?"
She looked like she’d just been diagnosed with cancer of the puppy.
“But don’t even think about feeling me up until the end of week two. I’ll be wearing a bra to bed.”
“If I do this for three weeks, I’ll have fingers of steel,”

Thanks for these great short stories.

PS Tara wears a fetching flesh-coloured bra to bed in All the Way (I noticed this as she removed that mountain of pillows and cushions they had on the bed).

[Barlimo]

Tarawhipped I gotta say Im lovin your short stories!
Please please continue to write these wonderful little insights into our favourite gals lives
If only you'd written the real season 6
If I was Willow the word 'magic' would never cross my mind ever again if I was on a naked Tara goodness promise
Dude, you rock!
xx

[umgaynow]

Fabulous as usual Cam-ster...but couldn't we get a sequel so we could see more of Tara's undoubtedly scrumptiously evil disciplinary techniques?? Pretty Please!! You know how I do love dominant Tara...plus I think it would be wonderful Post Traumatic Stress therapy for all of us to see Willow get what she deserved

[watty]

Well Cam, yay for insomnia again. This is getting to be a habit. Good for us, but not very good for your sleeping patterns.

Such a great spin on what could / should have happened. Tara's method of "punishing" Willow is truly inspired. Hitting it where it hurts, though not in a vicious and painful way.

a knowing smirk—an ‘I know something you don’t know and you’re not going to like it’ smile

Boy I can sooo picture that, and I did a happy dance. Yes, happy dance even before the stripping of the clothes.

“Yes, Anya. She’s the only other Scooby who can be impartial,” Tara stated, crossing her arms. “Face it, Will…Buffy and Xander have been enabling you for years.”

Thank you! Thank you for pointing that out. Buffy and Xander, and Giles too. Their focus is demon fighting, and they'll use whatever is in their disposal, even Willow's magic.

Oh, and yay for the stress balls. Did you check if they offer bulk discounts?
[br]

[Selena Taiki]

I can't believe I hadn't read these before, absolutely wonderful. Happy Campers had me laughting so hard I started crying. I nearly died when I read "Left! Left Will" because I've been there, well I was there momentarly, the end part of the sentance was drowned out by the splash.

[tarawhipped]

Thanks to everyone who commented on Lesson Learned, and my apologies for not leaving individual replies. Maybe a new short will suffice?


The Shawl of Thrall
by Tarawhipped
Rated PG-13 for implied naughtiness
Disclaimer: All things Buffy are the sole property of Joss Whedon/Mutant Enemy
Summary: Tara tries to figure out why Willow thought Dracula was sexy.[br][br]
Author’s notes: 1. This is total fluff. The initial idea for this came from re-watching Buffy vs. Dracula last year, but I was re-inspired by a recent update of Kathryn’s Second Chronicle.[br]
2. Huge thanks to Artemis (Chris) for the line divider and to Watty for title banner.[br]
3. In Buffy vs. Dracula, Joyce had no idea Willow and Tara were an item, yet just one episode later (Real Me), she knows enough to have sent Dawn to her room for wanting to see ‘what they do together.’ Ever wonder how Joyce found out? Also, why weren’t Willow and Tara around for the smackdown in the castle? Those questions and more will be answered in…[br][br]
[center][/center][br][br][br]
“You thought Dracula was sexy?” Tara asked, coming around the back of Giles’ couch and perching on the arm by her girlfriend, who had the good sense to look embarrassed for her outburst and quickly started backpedaling.[br]
“What? Oh, no. He was…yuck.”[br]
Tara raised her eyebrow and nodded slowly in the universally recognized head gesture for ‘riiiiight.’ Willow was many things, but a convincing liar was not one of them. Even now, the redhead was blushing, avoiding Tara’s gaze, actually listening to Anya bragging about her past encounters with ‘Drac’ as if it was the most interesting tid-bit she’d heard all day, and following it all up by gushing over Giles. Something was definitely awry.[br]
‘Why didn’t she wish I was there? And why is she trying so hard to act like she didn’t find Dracula sexy when she clearly did?’[br]
With the promise of more research to come, the meeting adjourned for the night. As they walked back to the dorms, Tara noticed that Willow seemed distracted, craning her neck around as if looking for—[br]
“You’re looking for him!” Tara exclaimed in shock, stopping in the middle of the sidewalk and pointing an accusatory finger at Willow.[br]
“Him? Who him? There’s no him here, and…I don’t know even what you’re talking about,” the redhead insisted, raising her chin in defiance.[br]
“Uh huh. Seriously, Will…what is it about Dracula? You and Buffy were acting like squealing fan girls back there.”[br]
Willow hung her head in shame. She knew it was true.[br]
“I don’t know. There was something, but I can’t quite put my finger on it—not that I want to put my finger, or any other part of me on any part of him.”[br]
Tara crossed her arms tightly over her chest and ducked her head.[br]
“Is it…is it because he’s a ‘he’?” she asked softly, not daring to look up as tears clouded her eyes.[br]
“What? Tara, no! Baby, you’re my always…my only. Don’t you know that?”[br]
The blonde shook her head stiffly, and was quickly enveloped by Willow’s arms. After several earnest protestations of devout lesbianism, a handful of blubbering apologies, a half dozen heartfelt declarations of love, and a multitude of kisses, the two continued on their way. They temporarily parted ways at Tara’s dorm so that Willow could run back to her room to retrieve some clothes. Tara watched her girlfriend until she rounded the corner, then sprinted upstairs to her room.[br]
Once inside, she grabbed a notebook and several pens and sat down at her desk. At the top of a new page, she wrote: WHAT’S SEXY ABOUT DRACULA. She ran over the conversation at Giles’ for any clues, and tried to remember what she knew from myth and movie. Completing her list of the most likely possibilities, she contemplated which to try first. She immediately crossed off #4: lives in a castle, as she had no way to replicate it, and #5, since she realized that even though there were spells that could turn her into a bat, she might get stuck that way, and didn’t want to end up in a cage in Willow’s room like Amy. Knowing Willow would be arriving any minute, she decided to skip over several ideas that demanded more prep time. That still left her with several options that required no props.[br]
‘Maybe some ambience, though’ she thought, turning off all lights save the Christmas strands strung across the ceiling. She lit several candles for good measure, and had just snuffed out the match when she heard footsteps approach her door. She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.[br]
“I have researchy goodness!” Willow announced upon entering the room. The redhead shrugged out of her backpack and set it on the bed. She opened it and pulled out her laptop and several DVDs. “I ran into Dave—movie geek Dave, not D & D geek Dave—and he let me borrow some of his Dracula collection. So, should we start with Bela Lugosi, Christopher Lee, Frank Langella, or Leslie Nielsen?”[br]
Willow continued to stand by the bed, thoughtfully perusing the plastic boxes fanned out on the bedspread. When her girlfriend didn’t respond after several minutes, she turned her head…and found Tara standing right behind her. Willow jumped.[br]
“Oh! You scared me, baby. I didn’t know you’d moved,” Willow explained, not wanting Tara to think she’d done anything wrong. The shy Wiccan was always so quick to self-deprecation, and even as they stood there in the silence of the dimly lit room, Willow could see Tara’s head bow slightly.[br]
‘Though she doesn’t look upset,’ Willow mused. ‘And she’s not looking down like ‘I’m sad’ so much as staring at…my neck? Oh crap, do I have a zit?’[br]
Willow’s hand flew to her neck, but could feel nothing there. She opened her mouth to ask about it, but found herself speechless as Tara’s hooded eyes raised ever so slowly, until Willow felt completely captivated in her girlfriend’s intense gaze. Well, at first it was captivating. As the seconds ticked by and Tara continued to stare, her blue eyes widening and narrowing, it got a little creepy.[br]
“Tara? Are you okay?”[br]
“Goood eee-ven-ing.”[br]
“Er…hi?” Willow replied, frowning at the husky rasp of Tara’s voice.[br]
“Ve are not goink to vatch mooovies tonight, Weellow.”[br]
“Damn right we’re not,” Willow said, sweeping the DVDs aside and moving her laptop to the floor. She pulled the covers back and led Tara to the bed.[br]
‘Oh crap, it’s the accent,’ Tara thought, slipping into the bed and wondering how she would manage to keep it up, since dropping her voice was making her throat a little sore. ‘Why did it have to be the accent?’ she thought miserably, as Willow began to gently caress her face.[br]
“Do you want orange juice or tea with honey?”[br]
“What?” Tara asked, her brow knitting in confusion. She tried to sit up, but Willow’s hands on her shoulders pushed her back down.[br]
“Baby, you sound terrible. I think you’re coming down with a cold.”[br]
Tara lay back and sighed with relief.[br]
“I’m fine, really,” she insisted, though Willow’s arched eyebrow clearly showed the redhead thought otherwise. “I guess some tea would be nice,” Tara acquiesced with a half smile. “And maybe some snuggling? We could watch a movie in bed.”[br]
Willow agreed after several more assurances that it would not be too taxing, and that Tara would try to nap. They changed into their pajamas, and halfway through Dracula: Dead and Loving It, the blonde fell asleep, which Willow decided was just as well, since the movie, while entertaining, was not helpful in the least. She also didn’t want to have to explain her sudden and disturbing realization that Leslie Nielsen was a very attractive man.[br][br]
[center][/center][br][br]
The next morning began much like any other, with showers, breakfast, and classes. Willow stopped by her room in between Sociology of Religion and Data Structures and Algorithms, and was halfway out the door when Giles called to request her presence at a Scooby meeting at noon. She left a hasty message for Tara, then ran to class.[br]
Tara trudged into her room at 12:05, silently cursing the boys who signed up for women’s studies classes simply because ‘there’s lots of chicks there,’ as one had openly admitted. She saw the light blinking on her answering machine, and hit play. She decided Willow could fill her in on the meeting, and began to repack her bag for her afternoon classes. Standing at her desk, she spied her list sticking out of the drawer where she’d hastily stuffed it the night before. She pulling it out and sat down, crossing off #1: accent and #2: penetrating gaze. After a moment of internal debate, she also placed a line through # 8: European, deciding that she was as European as she would ever get, short of traveling back in time and preventing her ancestors from getting on that boat, and that under the circumstances, it should really be part of #1.[br]
As she contemplated the remaining possibilities, a thought occurred to her, and she darted across the hall to knock on Jessie’s door, hoping that the theater major was home.[br][br]
[center][/center][br][br]
Willow walked up to Tara’s door, which was slightly ajar, and entered the room, where the curtains were shut tight against the midday sun. She shrugged out of her backpack and frowned at the lack of Tara. When her girlfriend hadn’t made it to the meeting, Willow’d assumed she hadn’t gotten the message in time, but her absence now, along with the open door, was worrisome. It was bad enough finding out that Buffy was in thrall, but what if something had happened to Tara? Turning sharply back toward the door, she jumped as the blonde appeared from behind it and nudged it closed, rendering the room even darker. Well…that wasn’t entirely accurate.[br]
The blonde part.[br]
“Um, baby? What’s up with the wig? It is a wig, right? You didn’t go all evil and suck up a bunch of black magic that somehow turned your hair black, even though that’s just ridiculous and like, the lamest beat-you-over-the-head-with-obvious-symbolism anybody could ever think up…did you?”[br]
Tara took a step toward Willow, who took a hesitant step back, still eyeing the wig warily.[br]
‘What the frilly heck? She looks like Cleopatra. Are we playing make believe? Does that make me Caesar or Marc Antony? Wait, that can’t be right. Maybe she’s Xena and I’m Gabrielle?’[br]
“You don’t like it?” Tara asked, raising her eyebrow in challenge.[br]
“Well, it’s uh…different. Maybe if you had on the leather skirt and armor, or we were in a hot tub…I don’t know?”[br]
Tara’s still blonde-ish eyebrows crinkled, then raised as she placed the reference. ‘Not the hair, either. Thank god.’ She pulled the wig off and used the excuse of placing it on her desk to inconspicuously cross off #3. Willow snapped on the overhead light, and when Tara turned to face her, the redhead immediately rushed to her girlfriend’s side.[br]
“Baby, you are sick! You’re so pale,” the redhead placed her palm over Tara’s forehead, which felt normal. When she drew her hand back, her palm and fingers were coated with greasepaint. “What the—?”[br]
“Jessie says it’s better than lotion,” Tara covered quickly, determining from Willow’s initial reaction that her girlfriend didn’t go for the undead look.[br]
“Jessie across the hall?” Willow frowned, wiping her hand on her pants. “She also says that aliens landed in her backyard when she was twelve.”[br]
“Silly me,” Tara laughed nervously. “I’m just gonna go wash this off.”[br]
Willow nodded despite her confusion at Tara’s behavior. As soon as Tara returned, the redhead brought her up to speed on the Dracula situation and the need to de-vamp Buffy’s house. They agreed that Willow would run back to her dorm for supplies, and they would meet out front in ten minutes. As soon as Willow was out the door, Tara crossed #6: deathly pallor off her list and frowned. The only thing left on it was #7: tall, which she’d only added because six didn’t seem like enough. Tara knew that Willow liked that they were the same height. “Within smooching range at all times,” she’d said.[br]
“I give up,” Tara muttered, crumbling up the list and tossing it in the trash. She reached for her denim jacket before remembering the large coffee stain on the sleeve from a crowded hallway collision that morning. Opening her closet, she dumped the jacket onto the laundry pile and grabbed her new black cloak, which draped to her knees, had a maroon satin lining, a short standing collar, and which she’d bought on impulse from the new vintage clothing store the week before. Grabbing her keys, she left to meet Willow.[br][br]
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“Tara?”[br]
Upon hearing her name, the blonde spun around, her cape twirling. Willow stood ten feet away, her wide green eyes raking over her girlfriend as if seeing her for the first time. The paper bag of spell ingredients slipped from her fingers and landed with a thud on the concrete courtyard. Tara skipped up to her speechless lover.[br]
“Ready to go?”[br]
“Uhh…go?” Willow mumbled, reaching out to touch an edge of the cloak.[br]
“To Buffy’s? Spell…Dracula…are you alright, Will?”[br]
“Hey!” Willow exclaimed, making Tara jump. “It’s still kinda early, you know. Sunset’s hours away. Maybe we should go back to your room and uh…look over the spell? You know, make sure we’re fully prepared?”[br]
“Sweetie, you could do this spell in your sleep,” Tara reasoned, “and I’m sure Buffy would feel better knowing her mom’s safe.”[br]
“I guess,” Willow pouted.[br]
“C’mon,” Tara laughed, tugging at her girlfriend’s sleeve and entwining their hands as they set off. “I’ll even buy you a mocha after.”[br]
“Can we get them to go?” Willow asked, reaching down to retrieve the fallen bag.[br]
“Sure, whatever you want,” the blonde smiled.[br]
Willow sighed happily, knowing exactly what she wanted.[br][br]
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Performing the spell was a snap, as expected. They had a harder time biting their tongues at Joyce’s remark about ‘giving up on men.’ Tara smiled slyly at Willow, who returned the look and refrained from taking the opportunity to come out. Besides the fact that Joyce was still frazzled, Willow didn’t want to give the impression that she’d ‘given up’ anything. That would imply she was missing something. She glanced at Tara.[br]
‘So so not missing anything,’ she thought.[br]
“Will this protect the whole house, or do you need to do the back door, too?” Mrs. Summers asked.[br]
“We’ll do both,” Tara confirmed over her shoulder. She crouched to finish the smudging, flipping the cloak back off of her legs. She didn’t see Willow’s yearning look or hear the soft whimper.[br]
“Thank you again for doing this,” Joyce said. “I need to run over to Mrs. Finch’s to return some catalogues. Will you be okay here?”[br]
“Fine,” both witches answered with a nod. They stepped aside for her to leave, and the moment the door was shut, Willow grabbed Tara in tight embrace.[br]
“Will, what’s gotten into you?” Tara gasped, tilting her head back as Willow’s lips trailed down her neck. “Sweetie, we…have to finish…the spell.”[br]
“Can’t help it,” Willow murmured against her girlfriend’s throat. “You’re just so…grrr!”[br]
“Oh, god, baby…we can’t…Mrs. Summers will be back—”[br]
Willow smothered Tara’s protestations with her mouth, their tongues slipping together in practiced unison. When Willow wrapped her arms around Tara, bunching up the cape in the process, Tara reached for the clasp to shrug off the garment. Willow’s hands shot up to stop her.[br]
“Leave it on,” she growled.[br]
Their eyes met: green glazed with desire, blue widening with realization. Willow leaned in for a kiss.[br]
“It’s the cape!” Tara shouted with glee.[br]
“Whu?” Willow asked, her lips still in full pucker.[br]
“It isn’t Dracula at all,” Tara said, clasping Willow’s hands and spinning them around the living room. “I thought you were lusting after him all this time, and I couldn’t figure out why, and it turns out you’ve just got a cloak fetish!”[br]
Willow, who was trying desperately to listen to what Tara was saying while mesmerized by the gentle sway of the shawl around her lover’s curves, suddenly caught on.[br]
“The makeup, the wig, the ‘Weellow’?” Willow asked.[br]
Tara blushed and nodded. “I just, I thought if I could figure out why you thought Dracula was sexy, I could…you know…try to be that…for you.”[br]
Willow frowned and pulled her in close. “You don’t have to be anything but Tara. Those things hid the real you, and you’re all I want.”[br]
Tara blinked away the happy tears, and smiled broadly, a laugh bursting from deep in her chest.[br]
“And the cloak?”[br]
“The cloak is gravy,” Willow grinned, her hands slipping under the cape to encircle Tara’s waist. She stepped forward, her lips teasing Tara’s. “Yummy, yummy gravy.”[br]
Lips and hands roamed freely, caressing, clasping, feeling. The pair were lost in a world of two as everything around them fell away. Call it thrall, call it love; they were in it, together. They were all, they were only, they were…[br]
…rounding second base when Joyce walked in.[br][br]
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That night, all was again right in the world of Sunnydale. Riley was making up for his ‘transference’ remark, while Buffy was making up for letting yet another vampire bite her. Xander was accepting that he was—and hopefully always would be—Anya’s butt monkey, and no one else’s. Giles was morosely dwelling on the fact that the only action he’d gotten in the past year was from the brides of Dracula, and speculating on the likelihood of that changing anytime soon. Dracula was fleeing Sunnydale after an unexpected visit from an enraged Spike, demanding his eleven pounds. Joyce was wondering why, if Willow was a lesbian, she’d made the remark ‘so that’s why I thought Leslie Nielsen was sexy!’ as she’d left the house hand-in-hand with Tara. Dawn was confined to her room after telling her mom that she’d like to watch the witches perform a magic spell, though she hadn’t phrased it quite that way, nor had she been aware of the eyeful her mother had gotten earlier.[br]
And in a dorm room at UC Sunnydale, Willow and Tara lay sleeping, exhausted from the afternoon, evening, and night’s exertions. They were wrapped in each other’s arms, and a black cloak, and nothing else.[br][br]
The End[br][br][br]

[Emms]

That was soooo incredibly cute and fluffy! Loved it, Cam.