The Kitten, the Witches and the Bad Wardrobe - Willow & Tara Forever

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 Post subject: The Never-Ending AU Challenge
PostPosted: Tue Aug 29, 2017 5:37 pm 
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4. Extra Flamey
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The "Never-ending Story World-Building Challenge"


Rules! We got rules ‘round he-yah!


The two most important parameters are - AU + Build off each other.

Story must be AU

Writers must "build off of" the previous entry's story, ever-expanding the universe and story-line into one massive, multi-part, series.


Other Very Important Rules:

Each entry may not exceed 5000 words. (Short, Sweet, keep moving, keep building)

Writers must call DIBS on chapters. DIBS will prevent other writers from posting for 7 days. This is to try and prevent multiple writers working/posting a submission for the same chapter.

For example, Artemis just posted Chapter 3, Ariel then calls DIBS on Chapter 4. Now Ariel has 7 days to post their new chapter. If 7 days pass and Ariel has not posted, they lose their DIBS and another writer can claim them.

Writers may not "negate" the events of chapters before them. Think of it as the "Yes, And" rule of improv theater. You can only agree and build on what has come before you.

Once you have submitted a chapter, please allow three other new chapters (by other writers) to post before calling DIBS again.

Otherwise just stick to the board FAQ and have fun!

This challenge never ends. There may be future separate monthly or quarterly challenges, but this one will run in perpetuity.

Finally: PLEASE DO NOT DIBS FOR COMMENTS. “Dibs-ing” needs to stay reserved for writers. Otherwise, things may get confusing fast. Even though dibs-ing for comments is discouraged PLEASE DO leave comments! Your input will help to inspire and drive the AU... so let the writers know your thoughts!

A big thanks to DarkWiccan, who honestly does most of the work for me when I post the challenges...

Artemis (Chris) has agreed to start us off with the first chapter to help get the ball rolling. Huge thanks to our favorite Aussie for providing the springboard!

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Visit my epic fic As You Wish and my shorts thread F*Series & Other Shorts But don't go visit my rarely updated Official Blog!


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 Post subject: Re: The Never-Ending AU Challenge
PostPosted: Tue Aug 29, 2017 6:11 pm 
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18. Breast Gal
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Note: I realised after writing this that it turned out kind of like Gold, just with less tail and more cowboy hat... but never mind, here's chapter one. I genuinely have no idea what happens next - not even any vague idea I was working towards, it's just this chapter and then 'question mark' - so it's up to you now. Enjoy!

Image


“Happy holiday,” Willow muttered to herself, following her backpack in dropping heavily onto the single bed in her hotel room. It wasn’t, she had to admit, a bad room - no view to speak of and a television from the days when they were boxes not panels, but it was clean and tidy, the bed was soft enough, somehow a hotel that still used VHS also offered free wifi, and when you get shoved into any spare box because the airline cancelled your flight, you should be grateful it isn’t literally a cardboard box, Willow finished the thought, idly rummaging for her iPad. Cramming everything into one overstuffed backpack seemed like a great idea at the time; now not so much.

The connection was predictably slow, but serviceable, and in little enough time she was scrolling through the handful of new replies to her ‘I’m off on vacation!’ post of a few hours ago. Posted in sincerity, made ironic by fate. Is that actual irony or Alanis irony? Ohno, think of something else before the song gets stuck in your head. Damn you and your catchiness, mid nineties... She distracted herself by trying to remember who her reply-ers were. She was someone from accounts, possibly? He was in a different building, they were only ‘friends’ because everyone tended to friend everyone else in the company... unless he was from upstairs, but she didn’t go upstairs much so it might as well be a different building. ’Enjoy yourself!’ ‘Have a great time!’ Thanks, straight out of the yearbook of the girl you never talked to.

Willow closed the app in a huff, unhappy with how much the thought felt like self-pity, and knowing she was as responsible as anyone for the persistent inverted commas attached to her ‘friends’. She didn’t socialise, much. Didn’t get to know people, or have nights out. Birthdays went by unmarked, except for calls from her parents, and buying herself ‘something nice’ that was usually something she’d been meaning to get anyway. Even the holiday wasn’t one she had sought out - she’d had enough paid leave time built up that some helpful soul in personnel had simply allocated her four weeks off to get rid of some of it, and she couldn’t really bring herself to argue just so she could sit at her desk some more. She hadn’t wanted to go anywhere in particular - her mother had all but booked the tickets for her to go to Hawaii (because this skin tone loves the beach) and she’d agreed because, again, what else did she want to do that was worth the argument?

I like my life, she told herself, browsing for something to watch - and she did. Her life was quiet, self-contained... comfortable. She didn’t think that was a bad thing, in itself. Somewhere perhaps there was a magic balance between cosy familiarity and not being... lonely, she admitted... but it seemed to elude her.

Maybe I’ll have fun. There’s stuff to do in Hawaii, right? That doesn’t involve self-incineration. They have... there are like, plains of volcanic rock you can go see, aren’t there? That’s interesting. She frowned, and let herself flop back onto the bed. Hawaii’s not the problem, Rosenberg, you’re the problem. Your flight got bumped to tomorrow, you’re out of sorts, and now you’re just looking for things to feel bleak about. Perk up and stop wallowing. Or if you’re going to wallow, wallow in a bath, does this room have a bath? A shower wouldn’t be bad, come to think of-

Her train of thought was abruptly derailed by a thunderclap and a woman appearing in mid-air right above her, barely inches from her, who seemed to fall sideways to a three-point landing on the wall, after which she fell the conventional direction into a heap on the floor with an annoyed “Ack!” Willow rolled off the bed with a startled yelp as the shock caught up with her, took a moment to try not to pass out from gasping for air too fast, and peered over the bed at the sound of the interloper getting up.

She wore a brown duster, somewhat weatherbeaten, made of what looked to Willow like thin canvas and for all the world like something out of a Wild West show, but beneath it her boots were slim and soft, over black leggings that revealed pale skin where they were laced up along the sides of her legs, and above a belt woven with glittering silver cords she wore some kind of bustier, almost Victorian. A broad-brimmed hat, seeming to match the Western theme of the coat, hid her features besides the honey-gold hair spilling over her shoulders, until she lifted the brim with a fingertip and met Willow’s stunned gaze.

“Elu ra?” she said, her blue eyes wide.

“Uh... wh-what, now?” Willow heard herself reply.

“Elu a-ra? Neeso,” she said, seeming to have an idea. She reached with one hand into her coat, and took two quick steps to come around the bed, until she saw Willow flinch away in panic, and stopped.

“Tiama s-sola,” she said slowly, holding her hands out ahead of her, palms up, reassuring. Even incomprehensible, her voice was soothing, and Willow found herself slowly getting to her feet.

“Oh va,” the woman said, coming a little closer, but not too much. Again she reached, slowly, into her coat, and produced a metal object which she held out in both hands, as if presenting it. Willow looked down, and realised it was a sculpture of a kitten, made of tiny gears and screws and levers, as if the woman had taken apart dozens of watches and used the parts to make a pet.

“It’s a cat...?” she ventured, looking back up. The woman nodded, and raised one hand to her mouth, gesturing.

“You, you want me to talk... to your cat?” Willow asked. “Uh... hi... cat. Chased any um, clockwork mice lately?”

She let out another yelp as the kitten abruptly stirred and sat up in the woman’s hand, opening its metal eyes and looking at her.

“Your- your cat’s alive!” she said, pressing her palm to her neck to calm herself. “It’s alive, how is it... wait, who are you, where did... what’s going on?”

The kitten turned its clockwork head back to its owner, and raised its tail, from which the woman withdrew a single tiny gearwheel. She deposited the kitten on her shoulder, where it sat primly watching Willow, and slid the gear into a bracelet she wore, which as she pushed up the cuff of her coat Willow saw was connected to cords running up the inside of her sleeve. The same as those on her belt, she realised, as the woman adjusted the position of a wheel in the belt buckle, and then she looked up and said: “Is that better?”

“Uh...” was all Willow could manage.

“Oh I-I, drat,” the woman muttered to herself, looking down at her belt buckle.

“Uh no it... um, I can understand you?” Willow ventured. “Is that’s what you, you were trying to do?” The woman looked back at her, and smiled in relief.

“O-oh - right, sorry. I surprised you, I-I get it. Sorry.” She held out a hand, hesitantly. “I’m Tara.”

“I’m... Willow,” Willow replied automatically, taking the hand without thinking, and trembling just a little as Tara slid her fingers over Willow’s palm and stroked her wrist for the briefest moment, instead of the handshake she had been expecting. Tara’s eyes widened.

“Willow?” she asked. “That’s, that’s your name? Willow?”

“Uh... yes? I think so? I mean,” Willow shook her head, “yes, my name, that’s what it is yes. Willow.” Tara’s face bloomed into the most radiant smile, and Willow felt herself smiling back involuntarily.

“I came to the right place,” Tara said.

“Okay?” Willow replied. “Where, where from? How, who, you popped out of nowhere and, what happened, why is a hotel room the right place?”

“Not the room,” Tara shook her head. “You.” She looked down and aside, blushing, then glanced back at Willow through the curtain of hair spilling over her face. “I was... trying to find y-you.”

Willow took a moment to process this, but couldn’t.

“...why?” she said at last. Tara took a deep breath, and sat on the side of the bed; Willow sat beside her almost automatically.

“I was a cleric,” she explained, or at least said it as if Willow was supposed to understand it, but she went on: “A junior - really just a scribe. Copying manuscripts. A good job, but I didn’t... It w-wasn’t what I wanted. Only I didn’t know what was. I told myself for the longest time I was just being dissatisfied for no good reason, that it shouldn’t matter, but it did. So I petitioned to see a librarian.”

“A librarian,” Willow repeated. “To, to find a book?”

“Hm? Oh. N-no, uh... what do you call people who have visions?”

“Um, psychics?” Willow ventured. “Only that’s not... real.”

“Strange,” Tara mused. “Well, I was admitted to meet the... the psychic, and she showed me a memory, from when I was a young girl - something I’d almost forgotten, it was so long ago. My mothers used to take me to a park, near where we lived after I was born, and there was a tree I’d lie beneath, a-and look up at the sky through the leaves.” She smiled warmly, as if remembering it all over again. “I’d look at the morning stars, and watch the leaves move over them, and imagine they were all part of the same pattern, the same spell, as big as the sky. All around the world, and part of everything.”

She shrugged.

“It was just a daydream, I grew out of it. But when the librarian let me remember it again, I remembered how it had felt, to be able to see the spell that joined the world together. After that night I looked for patterns like that, everywhere. Sunlight on leaves, butterflies singing, the way rain splashed on the windows.” She smiled at Willow, and lowered her voice, as if imparting a great secret. “I thought, what if a childish daydream could be real?”

“And, was it?” Willow asked, intrigued in spite of her confusion. Tara’s eyes sparkled.

“There’s no secret spell around the world that everybody else had overlooked,” she admitted. “The trick was, I let myself imagine there was - and in all the little edges of it spilling into every day, I imagined what it was saying. And I followed what I imagined it told me. I read old books, built my own spells.” She held up her hand, as if the bracelet - something like a compass mounted on a wristwatch band - was one of the spells she was talking about. “I made a map of what I wanted my life to be, and it was all blank spaces, but I let myself be a child and imagine the blank page wasn’t blank, but just hadn’t been filled in yet. And I found a way to... leap into it. Start my journey. Here.”

“You, wait,” Willow shook her head. “You’re... some kind of magic, a witch or something, and you’re from some magic world, and you teleported here, into a hotel room, with me, because... you daydreamed about it?”

Tara nodded, and fixed her blue eyes on Willow’s.

“Do you believe in destiny?” she asked. Willow shrugged helplessly.

“Up until tonight I didn’t believe in women appearing out of thin air right in front of me, so I’m not really clinging to preconceptions at the moment, you know?” Tara nodded again, and slowly took Willow’s hand in hers, leaning close. The clockwork kitten still on her shoulder made a quiet little purring sound.

“It was a willow tree I used to daydream beneath,” she whispered.

“Willow?”

“Mm-hm.”

“What... what now?” Willow asked. “Now I’m Willow, and you’re here?”

“Is here where you want to be?” Tara asked. Willow held her breath, until the answer came on its own in a shake of her head.

“Where are you going?” she asked.

“I don’t know,” Tara replied, smiling as if not knowing was a birthday present. “There’s a next step, a whole lifetime’s worth of next steps. Maybe not just mine.” She loosened her hold of Willow’s hand, now simply cradling it in her open palm. “Find out with me?”

Willow remained silent, trying a half dozen times to say something, but unable to decide what, until in a flash she realised which words came next.

“Let’s go,” she whispered, taking Tara’s hand firmly in hers.

“Now?” Tara asked.

“No time like the present,” Willow said, standing up on trembling legs. “Oh wait-” She scooped up her iPad, popped into the travel app to cancel her flight, and then finally left a reply to her online well-wishers: “Hawaii flight canned, but I found something better. Out of contact for a while doing something amazing.” And half-way to slipping the pad back into her bag, she paused to add: “No offence Hawaii, some other time maybe.”

Then she zipped up her backpack, hefted it onto her back, and stood in front of Tara.

“Okay. Let’s go... anywhere.”

“And anywhen,” Tara agreed, standing and taking both her hands. The kitten scurried down her arm and up Willow’s, on surprisingly soft paws, and settled in atop her pack.

“How do we go...?” Willow asked.

“Like this,” Tara smiled, and they vanished.

Image

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Chris Cook
Through the Looking-glass - Every world needs a Willow and Tara.


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 Post subject: Re: The Never-Ending AU Challenge
PostPosted: Tue Aug 29, 2017 11:01 pm 
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Dibs. Now I have 7 days, yes?

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Heather aka vampyregurl73 aka Riverwillows73
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My stories:
"Dry Heat – In Progress (still)" "Penny Arcade - Completed"
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My Fic Challenge entries:
"Fireworks" "Promise" "I Did What Last Night?"
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 Post subject: Re: The Never-Ending AU Challenge
PostPosted: Wed Aug 30, 2017 10:07 am 
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Yep! 7 days to get a chapter posted :) Thanks for dibs-ing! Super excited to see your chapter!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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Check out some of my most popular works: Special ... Leave It to Giles ... The Inimitable Giles ... Giles at Christmas

Challenge Fics!: You Could Be Her ... Glasses ... Graffiti ... Pizza Day

Forbidden Fics?: Check out the Litterbox!

Oops, I made a mythtake... wt4ever


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 Post subject: Re: The Never-Ending AU Challenge
PostPosted: Tue Sep 05, 2017 12:49 am 
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Never Ending Story – KB Round Robin 2017

Pairing: W/T

Rating: G

Angst/Drama Rating: None, not a bit.

Disclaimer: I in no way, shape or form own the characters from BtVS, they’re owned by Joss Whedon/Mutant Enemy. All original characters are in no way connected to them except by me in this forum. I own nothing but my soul, and even that is only a fleeting ownership… such is life.

Author's Notes: So here is my entry. All mistakes are mine and Grammarly's. I'm still trying to figure out how to steal Artemis' rainbows, but alas I failed. Damn! Now I need a drink and a nap! Anyway, on to the story, I hope you all enjoy!

Edited to include Artemis' rainbows he was kind enough to let me use! YAY!


Chapter Two

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The room they were standing in faded to black and the clockwork kitten’s purring became the overwhelming sound to Willow’s ears. There was no time for panic. No time to second guess this decision, just the feeling of Tara’s hand in her’s and the sound of purring.


Just as quickly as the room faded out, they jolted to a stop and then the sensation of falling prevailed as Willow screamed. Much like when Tara appeared in her room they both came to an abrupt stop and then dropped an additional few inches to the ground making the Harry Potter movies briefly raced through Willow’s mind.


When Willow looked around for Tara, she found her standing next to her looking down with her hand outstretched toward her. Willow took the offered hand and tried to stand as Tara pulled but her knees were like Jello causing Willow to stumble into Tara and looped her arms around Tara’s shoulders trying not to fall. Without thinking, Tara put both arms around Willow to help steady her while she got her legs to work properly again, holding her close in the safety of her arms.


“You’ll get used to it after a few hops,” Tara said softly with a reassuring smile.


Willow blushed as she had no choice in holding on to Tara, it was either hold on to her or fall flat on her rear end again. “Where are we?” she asked softly as she began to look at their surroundings.


It was night and they appeared to be in an alleyway open at both ends. The night was warm and smelled of rain and creosote. The street beneath their feet was wet, and water still dripped from power lines that ran near the street lights at each end of the alley.


“I’m not really sure,” Tara replied. “Are you ok?”


Willow stood up straight and let go of Tara. “I think so,” Willow replied as she took a step backward and her legs held up. She straightened her coat and picked up her backpack swinging it up onto her shoulder.


“I think I’m ready,” Willow said looking at Tara she shyly held out her hand.


Tara beamed again, taking Willow’s offered hand. “Then let’s find out where and when we are.”


They leisurely walked to the end of the alley, pausing to briefly look around the corner to try and get their bearings before blithely wander out into who knew what. The street was deserted, but the light was coming from a small dinner that had a neon “Open 24 Hours” sign flashing in its window just a short walk from where they stood peeking out from the alley.


As both women looked at each other Willow’s stomach growled loudly causing her to blush violently and Tara to giggle. “I guess that decides that, shall we go to the diner?” She asked.


“Sounds like a plan,” Willow replied with a small embarrassed grin of her own.


They quietly left the alley and headed towards the diner. The bright light spilling out onto the wet pavement reminded Willow of the famous painting by Edward Hopper. She paused a little away and just looked at the diner causing Tara to stop as well.


“What is it, is something wrong?” Tara asked.


“Wrong?” Willow asked after a few moments of looking. “No, no, nothing is wrong,” she paused. “Ok, this is a little weird and I’m new to all of this time jumping, but in my world, there was a famous painting called “Nighthawks” that looked pretty much like this,” she said waving her hand in front of her to indicate the dinner.


“When was the painting made?” Tara asked.


“Sometime in the 1940’s if I remember my art history correctly,” Willow replied sheepishly. “The only difference is this one is missing the customers,” Willow paused again as she thought. “If time correlates as I think it is then we dressed VERY oddly for this time period. Maybe they have a newspaper in there and we can get the date from it because I could be completely wrong. This isn’t exactly an episode of Doctor Who, although you would make a really great Doctor.”


“An episode of what?” Tara asked not getting the reference.


“Oh, ok, again, um how much do you know about the world I come from?” Willow asked and Tara shrugged in response.


“I knew next to nothing about your world itself, I was just aiming for you,” Tara said which made Willow smile.


“So back in my world or in my “timeline of origin”, there is a weekly science fiction television show based on an alien that is the last of his kind called Timelords. He travels through time and space, fighting the good fight, saving the girl and often planet earth all while kickin’ butt and takin’ names! The main character’s traveling companions all call him the “Doctor” and he swings by earth every so often and picks up a new human companion or two who travel with him on his adventures… I love that show,” Willow enthused.


“Sounds… interesting. What’s a television show?” Tara inquired as she led Willow the rest of the way to the diner.


Willow’s eye grew large as she was led into the diner. “Oh boy, we have lots to talk about, don’t we?”


“So it would seem,” Tara smiled as she continued to gaze fondly at Willow. “But that’s all part of getting to know one another, isn’t it?”


Willow smiled in return and walked up to the counter and sat down, Tara took her hat off and sat next to her. I young man in a sparkling white uniform came out from behind a dull mustard yellow colored door with a round window in it smiling cheerfully.


“Well, hello my name is Ray,” He handed them both a menu. “Can I get you both something to drink?”


“Could I have a Coke, please?” Willow answered as she opened her menu and began to look through it.


Ray looked at Tara, “And you, Miss?”


“Um, I’ll have the same thanks,” she answered not really sure what she had just ordered.


“Sure, two Coca-Cola's. I’ll be right back,” Ray replied and slipped back through the door.


“What’s a “Coke”, Willow?” Tara asked.


Willow looked up surprised from her menu, “It’s a soft drink, a non-alcoholic beverage,” Willow looked at Tara, who shook her head in the negative. “Technically, it's carbonated water with added sugar and flavoring, I don’t know the exact stuff. Um, you might like it, there’s always milk or water, and look,” She said pointing back to the menu in her hands. “There’s juice or coffee too.”


Willow spied a folded newspaper laying further down on the countertop. She held up one finger to Tara before getting up and going to grab and then scurrying back to her seat. She unfolded the page to front page of the local newspaper.


The headline told of the “Battle of Los Angeles” from an alien invasion. Willow started laughing at the headline and slid the paper closer to Tara so she could see it too.


“It appears that we didn’t go far, we’re in L.A.,” Willow said. “But, we’re in 1957.”


Tara looked up from what she was reading. “Is that a problem?” She asked. “I didn’t know where I would find you. If it would be earth as I know it, would it be past or future? I didn’t know and could not fully predict by magical methods.”


“Problem? No, not really, but you and I obviously stick out so we’re going to need different clothes so we can blend in. How long will we be here?” Willow replied and just then Ray arrived with two glasses of soda.


“What’s buzzin’, cousin,” Ray said cheerfully, but both girls just looked at him blankly. “What can I get you, girls?” He asked taking a pencil from behind his ear and licking the tip as he pulled a pad from the pocket of his shirt.


Tara just looked at Willow, who grab the menu and quickly looked it over.


“Uh, I’ll have a cheeseburger with everything, an order French fries, ooo beer battered onion rings and an order of those, too, please,” Willow answered Ray who then once again looked at Tara.


“Err, I’ll have the same,” Tara said.


“As you like it, dollface, I’ll be back in a jiffy,” Ray said turning away and slipping back through the door again. They could hear him yelling to a “Sal” that they have two orders.


Alone again Tara opened her coat and dug around an inside pocket and pulled out a slim silver charm bracelet and two charms.


“Do you have a good idea of what the clothing of this time looked like? Tara asked Willow.


“Enough to get us by, I think,” Willow answered.


Tara spoke softly to both charms before adding them to the bracelet in her hand and then coiled it in her palm. “Take a deep breath and exhale on the bracelets,” Tara instructed Willow who did as requested. “Ok, give me your wrist,” she said to Willow and then she slipped the bracelet on Willow’s wrist.


Willow looked at the pretty pieces of jewelry and then looked up at Tara and gasped. She was no longer dressed in her duster, she appeared to be in a charcoal gray skirt with black heels and a matching sweater. She looked like she just stepped out of a Veronica Lake movie.


“I used a glamor spell that pulled what our clothing should look like from Ray, it helps me blend in wherever I may land and be safe while I get my bearings. Since you know what they should look like as well, the charms will make it easier and more realistic,” Tara said and nodded. “Your outfit has gotten crisper looking since I put the bracelet on you.”


Willow looked down at herself and still saw the clothes she had been wearing all day. “But I don’t see...” Willow was cut off as Ray returned with two plates full of food.


“Here ya go, two c.b.’s walked through the garden, frog sticks, and onion rings,” Ray said with a wide smile. “Can I get you anything else?”


Both girls shook their heads in the negative. “Ok, just holler if you need me,” Ray said and slipped back through the door again.


It was quiet in the diner as they dug into their food. After several minutes of eating, Willow wiped her mouth with her napkin and started to finish her earlier sentence. “I still see my clothes when I look at me, and your clothes have changed color. Your skirt and sweater were gray now they’re blue. I really don’t understand.”


Tara swallowed her food before answering. “It’s a spell of mine, our clothes don’t actually change but the people around us seem them as similar to whatever they should be for when we land. If there is no point of reference then they don’t change.” She looked over at Willow. “So you put me in blue?” she asked coyly.


“Well, yes, it brings out your eyes,” Willow said as she blushed and focused on her food again.


This made Tara smile, her eyes roamed over Willow’s face and hands taking in the expressiveness and noticing the sadness her eyes held as well. “What would you like to do while we are here?”


Willow’s brow furrowed as she thought about Tara’s question. “I’m not really sure. Is there something we should do while we are here? I don’t know what the jumps entail, are we on a mission for something? Are we only here for a certain amount of time?”


Tara laughed, and it delighted Willow making her smile goofily in return, feel warm and happy. “No, my mission was accomplished the moment we met. Now we get to do whatever you would like, so I ask again, what would you like to do my lovely new friend?” Tara replied.


“I say we finish our food and then we find a room somewhere for the night. Maybe Ray won’t mind if we take his paper with us?” Willow replied. “I mean, there’s no rush, right? We can take our time so to speak? How does time work here compared to where I came from?” Willow asked. “I have a month before I’ll be missed by anyone. Can I go back if I have to or can I stay with you? Would you stay with me?” Willow finally took a breath and looked over at Tara who was chewing on a french fry.


“Well, that sounds very reasonable and I think maybe you are a bit overloaded at the moment,” Tara replied.


The two finished the food in silence, and Ray came back to top off their drinks and bring the check. “How do we pay, my money will look fake in this time?” Willow asked as she looked at the ten dollar bill in her hand.


“I’ll take care of that,” Tara said and called to Ray, as he approached Tara took the ten dollar bill in Willow’s hand and gave it to Ray. In the course of the passing of money, she did another glamour to make the money match what Ray thought it should look like, and he quickly came back with the change. Tara also asked about a place to stay and Ray told them of a place that was clean, quiet and safe for “two lookers like them”.


“Keep it,” Willow said leaving a three dollar tip.


“Gee, thanks,” Ray said excitedly. “Enjoy the rest of your evening, girls.”


With a friendly wave, both girls walked out into the night. Willow slipped her hand into Tara’s again and let Tara lead her off down the street opposite of the way they came to get to the diner. They walked for several blocks before Tara made a left down the tree-lined street that was obviously residential.


They walked on leisurely for another fifteen minutes before Tara stopped in front of a large house that had an ornate black lacquered wooden sign in front of it announcing it as “Whitby’s Fine Boarding House” in gold lettering. There were lights on in the downstairs windows and as the two started up the steps, the front door opened and a couple walked out and down past them.


Casual greetings were exchanged and they turned back to the door to see the face familiar to at least one of them. Willow made a surprised squeaking sound and Tara stepped in front of her protectively.


“Hello, girls, I’m Mrs. Whitby. Ray from the diner called and said you might be stopping by, are you in need of rooms? How long did you want to say?” Asked a smiling woman that looked remarkably like Joyce Summers. “Well don’t just stand there, come on in!”

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Heather aka vampyregurl73 aka Riverwillows73
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My stories:
"Dry Heat – In Progress (still)" "Penny Arcade - Completed"
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My Fic Challenge entries:
"Fireworks" "Promise" "I Did What Last Night?"
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Last edited by vampyregurl73 on Sat Apr 07, 2018 1:23 pm, edited 6 times in total.

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 Post subject: Re: The Never-Ending AU Challenge
PostPosted: Tue Sep 05, 2017 9:23 am 
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10. Troll Hammer
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This is so great!! Nighthawks is one of my favorite contemporary paintings - it's so iconic and you used it so well to set the scene.

Love that you've plopped our girls in the 1950's! Such a lush and colorful time period and a good choice for a first stop.

I wonder who will take us where (and when) next!

Cheers
DW

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Check out some of my most popular works: Special ... Leave It to Giles ... The Inimitable Giles ... Giles at Christmas

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 Post subject: Re: The Never-Ending AU Challenge
PostPosted: Sat Sep 09, 2017 8:19 pm 
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Hi DW,

I'm glad you enjoyed it, and Nighthawks is a favorite of mine as well. It wasn't a conscious decision to choose the 1950's and I was actually looking at diner lingo from the 40's and 50's and well there you have it.

Thanks!

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Heather aka vampyregurl73 aka Riverwillows73
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My stories:
"Dry Heat – In Progress (still)" "Penny Arcade - Completed"
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My Fic Challenge entries:
"Fireworks" "Promise" "I Did What Last Night?"
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 Post subject: Re: The Never-Ending AU Challenge
PostPosted: Tue Sep 12, 2017 11:47 pm 
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Sorry I'm so late, I've been working on a Secret Project (alright, She-Ra). I don't think I've ever seen Nighthawks before, so a) thanks for introducing me, and b) it made a lovely setting for our girls' first step - that and the chapter in general put me in mind of The Sting, which is one of my favourite films (just the look and feel of it in this case, of course, not the gangsters and con-men). Nice work on the diner slang too, very characterful.

The rainbow divider is here, if you ever want to use it:

(center)(img)http://www.uberwillowtara.com/specialfriends-div.jpg(/img)(/center)

Just swap the round brackets for square ones and it'd good to go. It was for Special Friends originally (hence the name) but I've taken to using it for anything, and it's a tiny file so it won't cause any bandwidth hassles if you or anyone else wants to use it too.

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Through the Looking-glass - Every world needs a Willow and Tara.


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 Post subject: Re: The Never-Ending AU Challenge
PostPosted: Wed Sep 13, 2017 1:22 am 
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8. Vixen
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Hi Artemis,

Thank you for the rainbows!

I have been watching old movies on TCM lately so it just kind of took over unintentionally. Edward Hopper has several other paintings and I can totally see some of them being used for some sort of Sam Spade-esque dime store novel cover. I don't think they were ever used that way but I'm not a 100% sure.

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Heather aka vampyregurl73 aka Riverwillows73
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My stories:
"Dry Heat – In Progress (still)" "Penny Arcade - Completed"
Image
My Fic Challenge entries:
"Fireworks" "Promise" "I Did What Last Night?"
Image


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