Tara's Sunnydale, Late Sunday
So that was a thing that had happened. And yeah, it was time to get back to her world now, but Kennedy had one imperative thing to do before then.
Tara
Tara was still shuddering a little as she curled over a comforting cup of very sweet peppermint tea.
The Gentlemen were gone, that was what mattered. She could talk again. She had some apologies to make -- this definitely hadn't been what she expected when she invited her friends over for the weekend -- but they'd gotten through it, and that was what mattered.
Kennedy
Kennedy had her voice back, she'd gotten her slay on, and she could get in touch with home again, so personally she was calling this trip a win. (Selfishly, she'd have been disappointed if she'd been in Sunnydale and not had something like this happen.)
And she really, really had to find out if she'd guessed right about something.
"So," she remarked casually, dropping into a nearby seat with a triple-shot caramel mocha latte, "have an interesting night?"
She was trying not to, but... she was grinning.
Tara
Tara laughed, a little breathless. "Yeah," she said. "I ... had a close call? But this other w-witch and I got ourselves barricaded in a laundry room, so nothing too bad happened."
She blew across the surface of her tea. "How was yours?"
Kennedy
"It was fun," Kennedy replied, as if this was a completely normal thing to say. "Although I have to say, fights seem like they're missing something when I can't be a smartass at the demons."
She set her cup down to lean her forearms against the table. "And see, your night sounds like it could've been way more fun than mine," she added with a slight quirk of her eyebrows. It wasn't quite a waggle.
Tara
"Nah," Tara said. "I -- I mean, she's cute? But we've been in the Wiccan group for months and, uh, we don't really talk. I think it was just a ... stress thing."
She didn't sound totally convinced; she was mostly saying this because she didn't want to get all excited about someone and then find out nothing would happen.
"But I can say," she added, "that doing magic with her felt amazing."
Kennedy
"Oh, really?" She'd meant to sound more playful about it, but Kennedy hadn't expected to feel a touch of envy there. Except she did; she was used to helping Willow with spells by now, but it was like reading the subtitles on a foreign film that you were watching with someone fluent in the language.
Except she was totally doing a dance of wheeeeeeeee in her head, so she covered it up with another quick grin.
"But she's cute, huh? Like, how cute are we talking here?"
She had a pretty good guess about why Tara sounded so reserved, but she couldn't resist asking.
Tara
"She's a redhead," Tara said, smiling back and letting herself just go with it for a second. Letting herself forget the weekend's terror. "And -- she has the best smile. When she smiles her whole face lights up. And when she's sad, or scared, or disappointed, you want to do anything to make her feel better. And she's crazy smart, you can just tell."
She scrutinized Kennedy for a moment. "I really sounded like I need a girlfriend, huh?"
Kennedy
"If she looks at you, it's like you just forgot how to breathe?" The smiling, apparently, was infectious; how much of Kennedy's completely goofy grin was because she agreed a hundred percent with Tara's assessment and how much of it was because it was damn nice to see Tara that happy... didn't really matter. It was a pretty good mix of both.
"Nah. You sound like you found someone you really like," she replied with a knowing nod. "No bad there. It looks good on you."
Tara
"Thanks," Tara beamed, sounding a bit giddy. "I think she had a boyfriend? But I haven't seen him in a while, and there's definitely a vibe with us, so..."
She sighed. "I just hope I'm not wasting this on a straight girl."
Kennedy
"Oooh, vibe-age." Kennedy really did waggle her eyebrows that time, then adopted a more serious expression. "Hey. Some girls don't have it all figured out right away, you know?"
She really wanted to say something like No, really, trust me, you're so not wasting it, but... she managed not to.
"But if she somehow manages to not clue in on your awesomeness, I might have to come visit, and I'm gonna have some Words with her."
Okay, that was mostly teasing. She was pretty sure it wasn't going to be a problem.
Tara
Tara grinned again, sheepish but satisfied. "I know," she said. "I'll have to talk to her about all this tomorrow, right? Now that we can talk." Thank Buffy for that. "Maybe I'll ask her to have coffee or something."
Kennedy
"Oh my god, you're going to ask her out? I endorse this," Kennedy said instantly, lighting up (like she hadn't been already). "And not just because you know I'm going to want the gossip afterward, although that's true too. I mean, if I remember right, coffee as a first date works pretty well."
She laughed, realizing she might be doing that 'pushing too hard' thing, and waved a hand. "Though seriously... no pressure or anything. I just like seeing you this happy."
Tara
"It might be a while," Tara told her. "You know, I wanna move ... kind of slow. But it feels good to be interested in someone, y'know?"
Kennedy
"I get it," Kennedy replied. "I really, really do."
In a very specific way, even.
"But just so you know, I'm totally rooting for you here." Did she care how weird this was? Not remotely. She grinned. "Keep me posted, yeah?"
Tara
It was kind of weird, yeah. Tara gave Kennedy a suspicious look before she decided she didn't really want to know.
"Absolutely," she promised.
Kennedy
"Cool," Kennedy decided with a nod, and decided to let it go before she really said anything weird. "Creepy voiceless wacky notwithstanding, this was a fun weekend. It was really great to see you. Thanks for inviting us."
[[preplayed with life_inshadow, follows up after this. nfi/nfb, ooc-okay, you know how it goes.]]
Tara
Tara was still shuddering a little as she curled over a comforting cup of very sweet peppermint tea.
The Gentlemen were gone, that was what mattered. She could talk again. She had some apologies to make -- this definitely hadn't been what she expected when she invited her friends over for the weekend -- but they'd gotten through it, and that was what mattered.
Kennedy
Kennedy had her voice back, she'd gotten her slay on, and she could get in touch with home again, so personally she was calling this trip a win. (Selfishly, she'd have been disappointed if she'd been in Sunnydale and not had something like this happen.)
And she really, really had to find out if she'd guessed right about something.
"So," she remarked casually, dropping into a nearby seat with a triple-shot caramel mocha latte, "have an interesting night?"
She was trying not to, but... she was grinning.
Tara
Tara laughed, a little breathless. "Yeah," she said. "I ... had a close call? But this other w-witch and I got ourselves barricaded in a laundry room, so nothing too bad happened."
She blew across the surface of her tea. "How was yours?"
Kennedy
"It was fun," Kennedy replied, as if this was a completely normal thing to say. "Although I have to say, fights seem like they're missing something when I can't be a smartass at the demons."
She set her cup down to lean her forearms against the table. "And see, your night sounds like it could've been way more fun than mine," she added with a slight quirk of her eyebrows. It wasn't quite a waggle.
Tara
"Nah," Tara said. "I -- I mean, she's cute? But we've been in the Wiccan group for months and, uh, we don't really talk. I think it was just a ... stress thing."
She didn't sound totally convinced; she was mostly saying this because she didn't want to get all excited about someone and then find out nothing would happen.
"But I can say," she added, "that doing magic with her felt amazing."
Kennedy
"Oh, really?" She'd meant to sound more playful about it, but Kennedy hadn't expected to feel a touch of envy there. Except she did; she was used to helping Willow with spells by now, but it was like reading the subtitles on a foreign film that you were watching with someone fluent in the language.
Except she was totally doing a dance of wheeeeeeeee in her head, so she covered it up with another quick grin.
"But she's cute, huh? Like, how cute are we talking here?"
She had a pretty good guess about why Tara sounded so reserved, but she couldn't resist asking.
Tara
"She's a redhead," Tara said, smiling back and letting herself just go with it for a second. Letting herself forget the weekend's terror. "And -- she has the best smile. When she smiles her whole face lights up. And when she's sad, or scared, or disappointed, you want to do anything to make her feel better. And she's crazy smart, you can just tell."
She scrutinized Kennedy for a moment. "I really sounded like I need a girlfriend, huh?"
Kennedy
"If she looks at you, it's like you just forgot how to breathe?" The smiling, apparently, was infectious; how much of Kennedy's completely goofy grin was because she agreed a hundred percent with Tara's assessment and how much of it was because it was damn nice to see Tara that happy... didn't really matter. It was a pretty good mix of both.
"Nah. You sound like you found someone you really like," she replied with a knowing nod. "No bad there. It looks good on you."
Tara
"Thanks," Tara beamed, sounding a bit giddy. "I think she had a boyfriend? But I haven't seen him in a while, and there's definitely a vibe with us, so..."
She sighed. "I just hope I'm not wasting this on a straight girl."
Kennedy
"Oooh, vibe-age." Kennedy really did waggle her eyebrows that time, then adopted a more serious expression. "Hey. Some girls don't have it all figured out right away, you know?"
She really wanted to say something like No, really, trust me, you're so not wasting it, but... she managed not to.
"But if she somehow manages to not clue in on your awesomeness, I might have to come visit, and I'm gonna have some Words with her."
Okay, that was mostly teasing. She was pretty sure it wasn't going to be a problem.
Tara
Tara grinned again, sheepish but satisfied. "I know," she said. "I'll have to talk to her about all this tomorrow, right? Now that we can talk." Thank Buffy for that. "Maybe I'll ask her to have coffee or something."
Kennedy
"Oh my god, you're going to ask her out? I endorse this," Kennedy said instantly, lighting up (like she hadn't been already). "And not just because you know I'm going to want the gossip afterward, although that's true too. I mean, if I remember right, coffee as a first date works pretty well."
She laughed, realizing she might be doing that 'pushing too hard' thing, and waved a hand. "Though seriously... no pressure or anything. I just like seeing you this happy."
Tara
"It might be a while," Tara told her. "You know, I wanna move ... kind of slow. But it feels good to be interested in someone, y'know?"
Kennedy
"I get it," Kennedy replied. "I really, really do."
In a very specific way, even.
"But just so you know, I'm totally rooting for you here." Did she care how weird this was? Not remotely. She grinned. "Keep me posted, yeah?"
Tara
It was kind of weird, yeah. Tara gave Kennedy a suspicious look before she decided she didn't really want to know.
"Absolutely," she promised.
Kennedy
"Cool," Kennedy decided with a nod, and decided to let it go before she really said anything weird. "Creepy voiceless wacky notwithstanding, this was a fun weekend. It was really great to see you. Thanks for inviting us."
[[preplayed with life_inshadow, follows up after this. nfi/nfb, ooc-okay, you know how it goes.]]