Howdy peoples! I'm back early, so you get an update early. Hehe. After this part, there will be 6 more parts and maybe a brief epilogue, FYI. This story has ended up being a bit longer than I expected.
I know I owe many of you replies, but after only a few hours sleep and 8 hours in the car, I'm brain-fried. But let me just say thank you for all your kind replies. I love reading your responses nearly as much as I love writing this story. You guys keep me going, so... keep it coming! Please?
BTW, I may be moving a bit more slowly on these updates in the next couple of weeks, as I'm going to be out of town for a few days here and there, and I'm also planning on starting to post another story I'm working on - one of those really long, moderately-angsty, love & drama & evil & adventure sorts of things, where there's actually a plot.
So anyway, without further ado... the conclusion to Here, Fishy Fishy...
-BB
Title: Into the Woods - Part 9b (aka Here, Fishy Fishy con't)
Author: blameburner
Feedback: Sure… Always a plus
Summary: While the men are away, the ladies will play. Anya, Buffy, Willow and Tara head into the woods for a little female bonding. Hijinks and wackiness are sure to follow.
Spoiler Warning: None - it's AU, I guess. It's set in the present - but no big bads, no S6 nastiness. Anya and Xander are together, Giles never left, Buffy never died, Dawn still exists, Spike helps out the Scoobies cuz he gets paid, and Willow and Tara never broke up since Willow was never addicted to magic. Pretty much think "Everyone's happy, together, and their usual amusing selves."
Disclaimer: Not my characters, but oh how I wish they were! Joss, blah blah, ME, blah blah.
Rating: NC-17, just to be safe, cuz... well... if you read my other story, you know why.
Pairings: W/T… duh. Also B and A. But not B/A cuz, well, Buffy and Anya? That would just be scary - they'd kill each other!
Angst: Huh? What angst?
Part 9b
"But I still don't see why we can't use worms!" Anya whined.
"Tara, would you puhleeeeeaze explain it to Anya," Buffy begged. "Again."
Tara cast her line into the water, trying to entice the little fishies to bite. So far she'd been fairly lucky, having several bites and catching two fish. Of course, they had to throw back one of the fish because it was just too small.
Tara had reasoned that the fish was just a baby, and that therefore it wasn't strong enough or experienced enough yet to evade Tara's alluring lure - at least if they threw it back and it grew a little older, it would have a fighting chance. Anya hadn't gotten it.
"It came, it saw, it bit... it should be dinner!" Anya had argued.
"But Anya, it'd be like taking candy from a baby," Willow had responded.
"So? What's wrong with taking candy from babies? That's how you get the best candy, because they can't fight back," Anya had said.
"Aaaaarrrggghhh!" Willow had cried in frustration, throwing her hands up in the air.
Ultimately Tara had watched the argument in amusement. Sure, the blonde felt a little bad that Willow was so frustrated with Anya, yet she had to stifle a giggle because she knew Anya well enough by now to suspect that the ex-demon was just trying to push Willow's buttons - a suspicion which was confirmed when Tara saw the tiny smirk on Anya's face when Willow had screamed.
Buffy hadn't had quite as much luck as Tara with the fishing. She had caught one early on, but hadn't hardly had any bites since. Anya, however, hadn't even had so much as a nibble all morning - hence her asking about the worms again. Anya was convinced it was defective bait, and not defective fishing skills, that had lead to her fishy drought.
"Here, fishy fishy," Willow called to her prey. "Momma Willow's got a nice plastic minnow for you to chase. Here, fishy fishy fishy."
Tara shook her head and smiled. Her lover's fishing mantra had been a great source of amusement to the blonde, Anya, and Buffy - at least until Willow had caught her sixth fish that morning... in just under an hour and a half. Tara had lost count of how many fish Willow had caught after that, most of which had to be thrown back because they just couldn't possibly eat as many fish as Willow had caught.
Every time the redhead cast her line, she chanted her mantra - and her success with the chanting had caused Anya to accuse her of cheating by casting spells on the fish. Willow had promised she wasn't casting any spells, but Anya demanded independent verification from Tara. When the blonde witch confirmed there were no magics afoot, Anya had started grumbling about the worms.
"Anya, its bad enough we're killing these fish to eat them. But at least they're dying so we could eat them," Tara explained yet again. "If we used worms as bait, then we'd be killing them for no good reason, because we are totally capable of catching fish without using worms."
"Yeah, we'd be worm murderers," Willow chimed in. "Whoa! I got one!"
Anya glared at Willow as she reeled in yet another fish and then released it.
"So? We kill a few worms? So what? Like that's any worse than teasing al these poor fish Willow keeps catching and releasing!" Anya complained.
Tara cringed slightly, knowing Anya was partially right. After it was deemed Willow had caught enough fish to feed an army, Tara had suggested she pack it in. Willow had looked so heartbroken, though, that Tara had caved.
Who am I to keep her from doing something she's pretty darn good at? Tara had reasoned.
So the witch justified Willow's continued fishing by figuring that there was something about Willow's skills that the fish obviously were attracted to, and that maybe if Willow kept the fish in the area, the rest of the camping party would have a better shot at catching some.
Even the fish can't resist Willow's charms, she thought.
"But Anya, do you really want to have to put the worm on the hook? I mean... ew," Tara grimaced.
"Yeah... ew," Willow agreed.
"Ew? It'd be great! Slicing through the worm with the cold, steel hook... seeing its innards trying to slide out through the lacerations in the skin... it's just like eviceration! Ah, memories," Anya said, her voice taking on a wistful tone.
Both Tara and Willow scrunched up their faces in disgust while Anya reminisced. The ex-demon launched into what she considered a regaling story of better times, when you could just turn your cheating husband into a mole on a donkey's butt without anyone batting an eyelash, or you could take that good-for-nothing boyfriend out to the wood pile and chop off his-
"AAAAHHHHHH!"
Anya's scream was followed by a loud splash, and then Slayer laughter. Willow and Tara whipped their heads around to find the Slayer standing over a soaking wet Anya, who was sitting where she had fallen in the shallow water.
"Buffy!" Anya fumed as she pushed her sopping wet hair out of her eyes.
Willow and Tara turned their gaze to Buffy.
"What? She fell!" Buffy said defensively.
Tara cocked an eyebrow and crossed her arms across her chest.
"Don't give me that motherly-Tara look," Buffy said. "People in glass houses... uh.. need lots of Windex!"
Tara grinned. "I think that's, 'people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.'"
Buffy pondered that for a moment. "Yeah, that makes way more sense..." she agreed. Then she shook her head. "You are so not changing the subject, Tara McClay! You and your glass house with all the stone throwing, when you are not as innocent as you like to pretend you are!" Buffy shouted, though not unkindly.
Willow stepped up next to her girlfriend. "Buffy, what are you-"
"I haven't dunked anyone in water," Tara said, confused.
Buffy smirked. "Maybe not, but you're still not innocent." She waggled a finger at each of them. "I heard you two this morning."
Tara blushed furiously.
"Hey! Then I want my five bucks back!" Anya whined, still sitting in the water.
Buffy said, "No, I didn't say they had sex... they didn't get that far. But the Wiccan Sex Machine was definitely up and running."
"Hey!" Willow shouted. She stepped protectively in front of Tara. "You were listening? You... you... pervert!"
Buffy gave a toothy grin and crossed her arms across her chest. "Oh yeah, you little sex fiend? Watcha gonna do about it?"
Willow smiled a devilish smile. The cat that ate the canary had nothing on Willow at that moment.
In a flash, Willow leapt at Buffy and tackled her, sending them both into the water. After a few seconds, both girls came up sputtering for air, pushing their plastered hair out of their faces.
"You little minx!" Buffy laughed. She had been expecting a lot of things from her best friend, but not a full frontal assault.
"Oh yeah? You're one to talk... pervert!" Willow retorted, and then splashed water at the Slayer.
"Doofus," Buffy called back, returning both the mock insult and the splash. Both women were grinning broadly.
"Freak."
"Witch."
"Slayer."
When the splashing had started, Tara and Anya had moved onto shore by silent agreement, and were now sitting with their knees tucked up to their chests, watching the water-and-word war in amusement.
"So did Buffy really push you?" Tara asked without taking her eyes off the two best friends in the water.
"Nah. I tripped on a rock," Anya responded.
Tara shifted her eyes to Anya for a moment, who met her gaze. They both started laughing and turned back to watch Buffy and Willow.
"Lesbian!"
"Straight girl!"
"You know, it's too bad we don't have any popcorn," Anya said. "This is better than a movie."
Tara laughed again and nodded her head.
"Slut!"
"Oooo," Tara and Anya breathed in unison. Buffy was upping the ante.
"Whore!"
"Ahhh," Tara and Anya responded to Willow's comeback.
Both Willow and Buffy were laughing so hard they could barely talk. Buffy had nearly run out of insults. The only thing she could think of was...
"Velma!"
Willow laughed even harder, then asked, "Wait... are we talking the cartoon version, or the stupid movie version?"
"Definitely cartoon," Buffy replied.
"Okay," Willow said, and then responded to Buffy's insult with...
"Daphne!"
With that, both girls turned their attention to splashing each other mercilessly.
"You know, it's a good thing they like each other," Anya said.
"Why do you say that?" Tara wondered.
"Imagine what names they would have called each other if they weren't friends," Anya replied.
Tara laughed lightly. "I suppose you're right."
Anya looked seriously at Tara. "So, is this something friends do? Call each other names? Should we be calling each other by unkind names as well?"
Tara turned towards Anya, unsure of how to explain this particular quirk of friendship. "Uh... maybe we better not. It's kind of hard to explain how the rules work."
"There are rules?" Anya asked.
"Well, sort of. See, the trick is to be insulting without really being insulting because you aren't trying to be mean," Tara tried to explain.
"There's a difference?" Anya was more confused than ever.
"Yes." Tara thought for a moment. "I'm not explaining this very well. Let's try this... If I were to call you greedy, that would be an insult-"
"But I am greedy," Anya said happily. "I don't feel insulted by you calling me greedy."
Tara smiled. "But that's just it. It's an insult because while I don't mean anything bad by calling you greedy - it's just part of the Anya we love - others who might call you greedy would mean it in a bad way, as an insult."
"So it's okay for you to call me that because you don't mean anything bad by it?" Anya asked.
"Basically," Tara said. "And also because you're not self-conscious about it. It isn't something that upsets you."
"I don't understand," Anya said pitifully. Just when she thought she understood it, she didn't.
Tara thought for a moment. "Name something that you wouldn't want people to call you."
Anya considered Tara's words carefully, then said, "Stupid."
Tara was taken aback. "Anya, you're not stupid-"
"Maybe not," Anya interrupted, "but I feel like it sometimes. Or at least I feel like that's what other people think of me. Because I don't know all the rules."
"What other people?" Tara asked.
Anya didn't say anything, just looked down at the ground. Anya's silence spoke volumes.
"You mean us," Tara said quietly.
"No, not you," Anya corrected quickly. "That's one of the things I like most about you. You don't treat me like I'm dumb just because I say inappropriate things."
"Anya," Tara said, gently placing her hand on the shopkeeper's shoulder, "you're not stupid, and no one thinks you are."
Anya looked at her skeptically, but Tara said, "Really. I promise no one thinks that. Everyone knows you're trying, and that you have a good heart. They may get impatient with you, but that's their fault, not yours. Okay?"
Anya nodded slowly, happy tears stinging her eyes.
Not wanting to cry, she switched back to their earlier topic. "So you could call me greedy, but not stupid, and that would be the correct way to play the game?"
"Right," Tara smiled.
"Okay, I think maybe I've got it," Anya said. "Blonde bimbo."
"Anya!" Tara laughed.
"Sorry," the shopkeeper said. "Airhead."
Tara laughed hysterically.
"Sorry, I'll stop," Anya said sincerely. "Dork."
The blonde witch couldn't stop laughing, but retorted, "Capitalist."
Anya grinned. "Sex machine."
Tara blushed. "Midnight groper."
"I like this game!" Anya said excitedly.
Tara laughed, and then caught a flash of white out of the corner of her eye that stopped her laughing mid-guffaw. She turned her gaze fully toward the water... and nearly stopped breathing.
"Oh... my," Tara let out a throaty moan.
Willow and Buffy had finally finished their game, and were coming out of the water - though Tara didn't even see Buffy. All she could see was Willow.
It was like slow motion. Willow shook the water out of her hair, and then slicked the damp red locks straight back.
As she moved closer to shore, Tara could see that Willow's jean shorts were plastered to her thighs, outlining the strong thighs as they moved her through the water.
Tara's gaze traveled up her lover's body and she nearly choked. Willow's white t-shirt was clinging to her like a second skin, showing off the taut stomach muscles Tara loved to trace with her fingertips. And Willow's breasts...
"Haawhahu," Tara groaned.
Willow's breasts were straining against the wet cotton, standing erect before Tara's hungry gaze. Tara could see the darkened nipples tightened into nubs against the chilly air, contrasting against the creamy skin showing through her t-shirt.
Somewhere Tara's mind processed that the redhead wasn't wearing a bra, but the blonde was beyond thinking anything consciously. She didn't even notice when Buffy and Anya took the fish they'd all caught and walked over to start making lunch.
Willow was still cleaning water from her eyes, so it took her a few moments to register the fire burning in Tara's eyes.
Finally Willow saw it, saw the raw, hungry need in Tara's gaze, and she nearly came on the spot. She stopped walking, transfixed by the smoldering look Tara was giving her. Willow looked down her own body, noting for the first time the way her clothes were clinging in all the right places, the way her breasts were jutting out against her t-shirt.
Willow looked up at Tara, who was staring intently at the redhead's breasts, and leered.
"See something you like, baby?" Willow asked huskily.
Tara's eyes met Willow's and the redhead could feel the answer hit her in a wave that washed all the way to her soul.
Oh, yeah, she sees something she likes. She wants me, Willow thought.
And Goddess how I want her.Willow strode purposefully yet slowly over to Tara, stopping directly in front of the blonde. Tara reached out without thinking, running her hands up the backs of Willow's legs from her calves up to her thighs.
Willow shivered. "What do you want, baby?" she asked, her voice deep and barely above a whisper.
Tara pulled against the backs of Willow's knees, forcing the redhead down to straddle the blonde's lap. Willow shifted her legs so they were crossed behind Tara's back.
"I want you," Tara growled in Willow's ear, sliding her hand to the button of the redhead's shorts. "I want to be inside you." She flicked the button through its hole. "I want to make you come."
"Tara," Willow moaned as her lover slid down her zipper. "Yes, baby. Yes," she hissed.
Tara grinned lasciviously and fingered the top of Willow's panties, and then twisted her hand to slip inside.
"Willow! Tara! Lunch is ready!"
"Son of a bitch!" Tara screamed out in frustration at hearing Buffy's voice.
Willow would have laughed at Tara's use of such naughty language, except that she was really, really frustrated herself. So instead of laughing, she groaned and banged her forehead onto Tara's shoulder, again and again.
Tara leaned her head back and shut her eyes against the bright mid-day sky, and exhaled slowly.
"I think I better jump back into the lake," Willow said, disengaging herself from Tara's lap and standing. "You need to come, too?" she asked, holding out her hand to the blonde.
"You have no idea," Tara muttered, taking Willow's hand and marching off towards their pseudo-cold shower.
*******************
Edited because I am a really, really big idiot.
TBC with Part 10 (aka All Worked Up and No Place to Go)
"And remember... if you hurt her I will beat you to death with a shovel. A vague disclaimer's nobody's friend. Have fun!"
Edited by: blameburner at: 7/30/02 5:25:20 pm
by DarkWiccan » Thu Jul 25, 2002 12:09 am 
And I'm glad they managed to do some "stuff" before Anya and Buffy woke up...or they would be even more frustrated for the rest of the day!
Poor Tara gettin' her breast twisted like a firing knob. 
at: 7/25/02 8:29:03 am