FIC: Answering Darkness

[Puff]

Update? Did someone say update?

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You know, it's a real deal relationship and that's why people can relate to it
Amber Benson

[ExtraFlameyWT]

OWW! You didn't have to kick so hard, Drakkenfyre!



Okay, I'm sorry, Sass, I keep asking for an update... but we need one!!!



How much longer must we suffer from Sass withdrawal?



-Aimee

*****
"Pope John Paul today confirmed his opposition to gay marriages, said they're unnatural. Gay marriage is unnatural. Then he put on a pointy hat, his dress, and returned to never having sex at all." -Bill Maher

[WiccansIllusion]

And in the tradition of being left all cliffhangy on what is now Thursday, here's a fake update. With the only explanation to the Alice In Wonderland scene. At least that I can come up with.













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Willow woke with a start. What had all that been about? Then she remembered. She'd wanted to experiment with shrooms on the campout her and Tara had gone on. Willow's drug hazed mind pressed a brief kiss to her sleeping lovers head.



Tara woke slowly to the kiss, and opened her eyes slowly. "I'm sorry baby, did I wake you?" Willow's voice sounded slightly muffled, and she shook her head gently. "No, well, yes, but I wanted to be woken." The blonde reached up then and pulled her lover in for another kiss, which was broken gently as Willow's tummy rumbled.



"I think I have the munchies, and that some funny shaped pancakes are in order." Tara nodded in agreement as suddenly the sleeping bag was pulled over her head and Willow started tickling her.



Throughout the forest, there was no sound. There wasn't any sound at all except for one. The giggling of two girls in a tent, on a campout, getting some well intended snugglies, and pancakes

'It's good to be a chicken casserole'-Sass, answering darkness

'My heart is cleverer then I and it knows what to do.'-MC Legends of the Kiss

Edited by: WiccansIllusion at: 5/1/02 10:59:54 pm

[AutumnT]

Well Sass I'm afraid you are now due a spanking.

Autumn

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Buffy: I could wrestle naked in grease for a living and still be cleaner than after a shift at the Doublemeat.

Willow: Plus, I'd visit you at work every single day. --- "Normal Again" shooting script

[Jennpurr]

What Autumn said.



No update yet. Makes me very sad.



But.. it's okay. I'll wait patiently till Friday.



Jen

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"It's good to be a chicken casserole," Tara murmured before passing out. -from "Answering Darkness" by Sassette




Tara: Willow... I got so lost


Willow: I found you... I will always find you




Tara: Can we just skip it? Can you just be kissing me now?

[mollyig]

I can be patient! Well, in theory anyway.

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

[TrueXena]

FUCK THAT SHIT! I want my promised update NOW damnit!



You know I love you Sass, but really, you are killing me here! Think of me how impatient I am and I know the spoilers! Now think of all these poor little Kittens, who dont know what the frilly heck is going on with this fic, and this cliffhanger. Think of them woman!



Ok I'll wait, but damnit I dont have to like it.

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Tara: "C-can you just be kissing me now?" - in 'Entropy'

Tara: "Its good to be a chicken casserole." -in 'Answering Darkness' By: Sassette

TrueXena: "Get a taste of Religion. Lick a Witch!"

[Mufin53]

I'll bet she's just doing this to drive home the cliffhanger. I mean, if this was the Bloody Cliffhanger of legend, she has to make it more excruciating than the rest of them, right?



Autumn, she's already said she doesn't like spankings. Do you really want to anger her? What if she decides not to bring Tara back, as punishment to us all? No, that really won't do. If you still need to give a spanking to vent your frustration, might I offer myself as spankee?

[Owl]

*Owl pulls herself up, hand over hand on her harness rope, and scrambles to the top of the precipice, at which point she pulls out a loudspeaker and begins to yell*

Smittens!

The time has come!

*The dangling smittens look up at her, and note that she is wearing a special red and black plaid cheerleading costume with a symbol resembling two crossed pairs of panties on the chest.*



We will not rest until the Trickster is defeated!

We will not rest until Tara is Tara-shaped again!

We will not stand aside until there is no more crackly black stuff, or witchy pain coffee!

We will not avert our eyes until the Bloody Cliffhanger is but a mere shadow of its former self!

We will not rest until there are hugs and puppies!



Will we dangle here helplessly forever? No!

We will rise up, and lay claim to our right to an update!

Vive La Sassette! Vive La Revolucion!

Update Now!

*Boing!* *Thud* *various sounds of falling off of cliff.... very ungracefully *



Right. Update tomorrow, then?

Swingin' with the Smitten lifestyle......

Edited by: Owl at: 5/2/02 10:35:29 am

[tommo]

Sass, I know how you feel about things coming up. And I'm not here this weekend. I mean physically, because when am I ever mentally here? Wait, don't answer that. Heh.



Can't wait for the next bit. But I shall. Patiently. See? This is me waiting patiently.

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"It's between a hitch and a kink, with a side of twinge. It's okay."

[WiccansIllusion]

Update? Please? with a Tara covered in whipped cream, and a cherry on each breast? :: just blinks and gapes that she came up with that::

'It's good to be a chicken casserole'-Sass, answering darkness

'My heart is cleverer then I and it knows what to do.'-MC Legends of the Kiss

[Sassette]

*blink blink*



I'll post an update before I go to bed tonight.



-Sass

______________________________________

I Think The Hellmouth Tastes Like Chicken -- Autumn

[ExtraFlameyWT]

oh wow!!! an update tonight!!!! woo hoo!!!!!!



sorry, i got a little excited



*sits back down*



i'll, uh, just sit back and wait for the update, then...



-Aimee

*****
"Pope John Paul today confirmed his opposition to gay marriages, said they're unnatural. Gay marriage is unnatural. Then he put on a pointy hat, his dress, and returned to never having sex at all." -Bill Maher

[sheila wt]

Quote:

---

"Update? Please? with a Tara covered in whipped cream, and a cherry on each breast? :: just blinks and gapes that she came up with that:: "

---

How in hell someone is supposed to study after reading this??? Not that I was studying... I really should, but I got distracted earlier.... much earlier... and now I think it's just too late to start anyway... but how I am supposed to do *anything* now that I have this picture in my mind???



Uhmmmm... thank you, WiccansIllusion!

Sheila

...................................................................


Willow: "If you felt lost and alone? Where would you go?"

Tara:"To you."

[WiccansIllusion]

Whoo hoo! that worked. Wow.

Love ya Sass. Thank you!

'It's good to be a chicken casserole'-Sass, answering darkness

'My heart is cleverer then I and it knows what to do.'-MC Legends of the Kiss

[AutumnT]

Quote:

---

I'll post an update before I go to bed tonight.

---

See that's what I love about Sass. She minds.

Autumn

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Buffy: I could wrestle naked in grease for a living and still be cleaner than after a shift at the Doublemeat.

Willow: Plus, I'd visit you at work every single day. --- "Normal Again" shooting script

[Sassette]

Must ... stop checking ... spoiler board. *gasp, fall*



Must ... be strong. *crawl*



Must ... *URK!* ... write!



-Sass

Ummm ... still working on it.

______________________________________

I Think The Hellmouth Tastes Like Chicken -- Autumn

[blameburner]

Quote:

---

How in hell someone is supposed to study after reading this???

---

See, that's what I keep saying! I've got my outline in front of me, my books open, and a final in, um... 8 hours. Then I read about whipped cream and breasts and I'm all done for!



Sass - I've stayed away, trying not to pressure you, but... Update! Need! Please!!! Begging here! On my knees! In a naughty way, even!!!

You see this face? This is the face of a Kitten on the edge, Earl.

[TrueXena]

*gets her IM ready to pester Sass for an update*

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

Tara: "C-can you just be kissing me now?" - in 'Entropy'

Tara: "Its good to be a chicken casserole." -in 'Answering Darkness' By: Sassette

TrueXena: "Get a taste of Religion. Lick a Witch!"

[WiccansIllusion]

Sheila- My forte is procrastination, and I'm very very good at what I do LOL

'It's good to be a chicken casserole'-Sass, answering darkness

'My heart is cleverer then I and it knows what to do.'-MC Legends of the Kiss

[Sassette]

Okay ... this will in No Way be a plot-satisfying update. This in No Way resolves the Bloody Cliffhanger. AND it's really damn short. I've started and re-started this update about twelve-million times, and so far, these few pages are the only bits I know I'm not going to change.

I was planning on posting nothing tonight, but with the threats of spankings, kittens on their knees, and the vision of a whipped-cream and cherry-clad Tara running through my mind, I just couldn't NOT post something. So, again - apologies for its brevity, but it's cute, so it should leave you in a slightly happier place than the bloody cliffhanger. Umm, I hope. Heh.

Title: Answering Darkness Part 53 - And Accepted Freely
Author: Sassette
Feedback: Can be sent to pink_overalls@yahoo.com
Summary: The Beast vs. The Trickster. Fight!
Spoiler Warning: Up to and including "Tabula Rasa" in Season 6.
Disclaimer: I don't own these characters. I'm just borrowing them because Season 6 angst is running high, and I want my happy ending now, dammit! So I'm writing it … but it'll be awhile until I get to that part, so bear with me (or "bare" with me if you're naughty).
Rating: PG-13.
Notes: For the purpose of this story, all events of Tabula Rasa took place exactly as shown in the series; however, no subsequent episodes will affect this piece. We're splitting from canon here, because this seems the fastest way to get a reconciliation and because I feel this is one of the possible outcomes when taking the "addiction" metaphor into account. So, I should shut the heck up now, and just get to the story, right? Right.

Answering Darkness Part 53

And Accepted Freely

By Sassette

Tara cried as she set up the circle - the space she would need to perform this dark ritual. She couldn't bring herself to calling it 'casting the circle', because she had always associated casting a circle with love and laughter, happiness and joy.

She knew Dark Magick - she had been raised to know it, and her lessons in those arts reminded her obscurely of Trigonometry class. It was required of her to learn both, but she had prayed and prayed that she would never find cause to use either one.

A bittersweet laugh escaped her. Was Willow's bizarre habit of comparing everything to school contagious?

Was this why Willow always thought about something silly when there was a big crisis going on? Because it was easier to focus on something inconsequential than the realities of the situation they were facing?

A small smile crossed her face as she lit the candles, her mind turning back to the time she had first gotten a little glimpse of the inner-workings of Willow's mind.

They had been running from vampires, she recalled. It had been stupid, and foolish - completely irresponsible - but they had fallen asleep during a picnic in a secluded area of the park, and woken after sunset.

The picnic itself had been an oddity - though completely wonderful in Tara's estimation. She now knew that it had been wonderful in Willow's, too, but at the time they were fast becoming friends, each with no inkling of the deeper feelings beginning to develop within the other.

Still, the subject of picnics had come up, and they had discovered that they shared a weakness for the delightful outdoor meal. They had made vague plans to go on one together, but Tara had still been delightedly surprised when Willow had shown up for their next study date with a basket and a blanket in her arms.

The studying had gone well, and they had laughed and talked about nothing in particular for hours before the sun and their mutual enjoyment of each other's company had lulled them into a feeling of security. It was, Tara had learned, so very easy to forget that she was in Sunnydale, and all that meant, when she was with Willow.

Falling asleep had been a terrible idea.

In a mad frenzy, they had packed everything up, and headed back to the dorms. As often happens, they were chased, though Willow and Tara had both mutually pretended not to know the true nature of what was chasing them. How, Tara had wondered, could she possibly tell Willow that vampires were real? Magick was one thing, but the walking dead? Tara had noticed the unusually large vampiric presence in Sunnydale, but had no idea if Willow was aware of the significantly large undead population, or, like the rest of Sunnydale's residents, had just naturally developed a reticence to be outside at night?

She still wasn't sure how they had gotten away with - especially with the basket and blanket still in hand - but they had, practically falling into Tara's dorm room. As they looked at each other, each out of breath from running away from the "muggers", they had burst out laughing for no apparent reason, except the adrenaline coursing through them, and the sheer relief that they were both okay.

"W-what, uhh, are y-you, umm … thinking a-about?" Tara had asked, her eyes drinking in the sight of the beautiful face - cheeks flushed, eyes bright, hair tousled - that she had spent so much time studying in her dreams.

"Do you think Bert and Ernie were living an alternative lifestyle?" Willow had blurted out, then immediately looked like she was so embarrassed she wished the floor would open up and swallow her whole, causing Tara to gape at the girl.

They had been chased by vampires and >this< was what Willow was thinking about?

"I guess, umm … they, uhh, could?" Tara had ventured uncertainly, eyeing the redhead like she'd never seen her before as Willow blushed. "I-it w-would be, umm, kind of, uhh, cute, if they were?"

"Oh, yeah," Willow had agreed. "Not that I think puppets necessarily have a sexual orientation, but if they did … I mean, two guys … one has this thing for his rubber ducky … living together and alone all those years, sharing a bedroom …" Willow had prodded, gesturing weakly with one hand and looking a little sheepish.

"Loving y-your, ummm, rubber ducky means y-you're, uhh, gay?" Tara had asked, a smile starting in her heart and spreading through her as she watched Willow wring her hands and shift her weight from foot to foot, a frustrated expression on her face.

"I didn't mean that," Willow had said slowly. "I mean, lots of people like rubber duckies. Rubber duckies are all … yellowy and happy … and they make bathtime fun."

"Y-yes. Very fun," Tara had agreed, nodding. "I, uhh … like the w-w-way they, umm … squeak," Tara confessed, beaming at Willow, and not even minding that she was stuttering around the other girl. Willow had a way of just waiting patiently as Tara struggled with the words that warmed her, and she could detect no mocker or censure from her.

"Yes!" Willow had agreed enthusiastically. "They squeakage is all … squeaky," she had finished lamely, still feeling a little foolish, but a bit better now that it seemed Tara was following her random line of thought.

"W-w-when I w-was, uhhh, little," Tara had begun, her eyes laughing as she spoke. "My b-, uhhh, the, umm, there w-were some, uhh… little rubber, um, boats? And the duck w-w-as the same, uhh, size, so it w-w-was like, W-whoa! Giant duck!"

"Exactly," Willow had said with a nod. "'Cuz if there were little people on the boat, the duck would be all giant and scary, and they'd think it was like one of those sea monsters they used to believe in. I used to leave the boat in the water when I pulled the plug, and watch it get sucked in by the whirlpool."

"I-isn't that, uhh … kind of, umm … mean? To the, errr, tiny sailors?" Tara had asked uncertainly, somehow hoping there was more to the story, despite the sailors in question being a figment of Willow's childhood imagination.

"Oh, well," Willow had said, scuffing her foot self-consciously and looking down at her sneakers. "I kind of used to have the rubber ducky swim over and rescue them, so the sailors wouldn't be afraid anymore, and they'd all be friends."

Tara had laughed, delighted at the story, impulsively taking Willow's hand in hers and giving it a little squeeze, a warm tingle shooting up her arm at the contact of skin on skin. Willow had just looked up at her, smiling shyly, then joined in the laughter.
______________________________________
I Think The Hellmouth Tastes Like Chicken -- Autumn

[TrueXena]

I love you Sass



*runs off to read*

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

Tara: "C-can you just be kissing me now?" - in 'Entropy'

Tara: "Its good to be a chicken casserole." -in 'Answering Darkness' By: Sassette

TrueXena: "Get a taste of Religion. Lick a Witch!"

[tommo]

Yeah Sass, you nailed it. See, this is why I love your stuff. It's a beautiful glimpse into how the two girls relate to one another. It reminds me of that little "SpongeBob Squarepants" comment that Tara made early this season. It's so absolutely them, talking about shit and making each other laugh. What you've done here is just explain why your writing is so great, because the character exposition is amazingly accurate. Fantastic. Thank you so much.

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"It's between a hitch and a kink, with a side of twinge. It's okay."

[Sassette]

**TX: I love you, too.



**tommo: *blush* Awww, shucks, Ruth *G* Yeah, I was hoping the cuteness level involved would make up for the shortness of the update. I'll write more tomorrow when I'm not so gosh-golly tired, but for now, I'm actually just glad that I got a few pages done that I didn't immediately delete *G*



-Sass

______________________________________

I Think The Hellmouth Tastes Like Chicken -- Autumn

[blameburner]

Awwwww!!! That was so cute!



I think I must be doing the Willow-avoidy thingee, cuz all I can think about is a Buffy spin-off called "Willow and Tara the Rubber-Duckie Slayers," where the entire show would revolve around Naked Tub Time. This, despite the impending doom and gloom of the as-yet unresolved cliffhanger.



See, it's all good... now I can go to sleep happy. I'm glad getting down on my knees worked. Um, you want me to stay down here, or...?



-blame

You see this face? This is the face of a Kitten on the edge, Earl.

[Jennpurr]

YAY!!!



Love you, love you. Thank you, thank you.



This was very cute. Awww.. I just love our girls happy.



I so can't wait for more of an update. This made me smile, so.... Thank you.



A big, WOO! and HOO!



Jen

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"It's good to be a chicken casserole," Tara murmured before passing out. -from "Answering Darkness" by Sassette




Tara: Willow... I got so lost


Willow: I found you... I will always find you




Tara: Can you just be kissing me now?

[wiccachica]

Sass-



Question: Could I just be adoring you any more right now?



Answer: Uhm....YES.



Nuff said.



-Chica (who is practically speechless with joy to be reading Sass-fic again!)

" I mock you with my Monkey Pants!" - OZ


" You're NOT the source of me" - Buffy


" Tremble!" - Gacknar

[Willowfan]

Rubber Duckey, You're the one!! You make Bathtime so much fun!!

I'm right there with Willow!!!!

Well....except for the being gay....but I loved that damn duck!!

I loved this bit, Sass....it was truly beautiful!!

Willowfan

“Love’s bitch?” Spike asked softly...
“Woman enough to admit it,” Willow agreed with a nod and a sad half-smile.

“Cheers, luv,” Spike whispered... -Answering Darkness by Sassette

[Jennpurr]

Wiccachica,



Hee hee.. LOVE your avatar. I just loved that part in "Who are you?"



Hey.. can someone tell me how to change my signature to make it different colors and have different affects? I would really appreciate some help, if one of you would be willing.



Jen

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"It's good to be a chicken casserole," Tara murmured before passing out. -from "Answering Darkness" by Sassette




Tara: Willow... I got so lost


Willow: I found you... I will always find you




Tara: Can you just be kissing me now?

Edited by: Jennpurr at: 5/3/02 1:10:55 am

[AutumnT]

WHile you are changinh your sig, you might want to make it 3 lines or less like the FAQ says. There is a lot of sig info in the test thread at the main kitten board.

Autumn

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Buffy: I could wrestle naked in grease for a living and still be cleaner than after a shift at the Doublemeat.

Willow: Plus, I'd visit you at work every single day. --- "Normal Again" shooting script