{buffyverse} come back to me a while
Title: Come back to me a while
Author: Aaronlisa
Fandom: Buffy the Vampire Slayer / Angel
Pairing/Characters: Buffy Summers/Harmony Kendall
Rating: FR13
Disclaimer: Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel belong to Joss Whedon and company. The title comes from Placebo's song "Taste in Men."
Prompts: Written for femslash_minis's Round 85 for pssnfrt_ksss who wanted the pairing, a ATS Season Five setiting, PDA kiss, and Buffy bring Harmony an unicorn statuette from Italy.
Notes: Set during ATS 5x20 "The Girl In Question." I can't take credit for the idea of Buffy having body doubles post "Chosen" that does come from the Season Eight comics.
Summary: Buffy and Harmony reunite briefly in LA.
Word Count: 1391
The music in the club is loud and pounding. She can barely herself think so it's not surprising that she almost misses the vibration of her phone in her pocket. When she pulls it out, she reads the text message and can't help the tired sigh that falls from her lips.
They're in Italy.
It's surprisingly simple and to the point. For a moment, Buffy can't quite believe who it's from. However, she realizes that she doesn't have a lot of time to worry about the simplicity of a message from a girl who was never content with being straight to the point. Instead, she shoves her phone back in her pocket and she hightails it out of the club.
She manages to catch a cab and in the back seat, she pulls out her phone and makes several calls. The last thing she really needs is to have deal with Spike and Angel and their insistence that she pick one of them. When will they ever realize that it's not about them but it's about her. There's a part of her that will always love the both of them forever but she's no longer that girl who is in love with either of them.
Before she knows it, there's a decoy in Italy, living her life and dating the Immortal, while she's on a plane flying back home. She owes someone a huge favour and Buffy's learned the importance of paying back favours on her terms.
* * *
LA hasn't really changed a bit. Well that's a slight lie: there's more smog and the fashion trends have changed. But other than it's still this weird city of contradictions. It's no longer home; it hasn't really been home since she was sixteen years old and was informed that she was the Chosen One, the one girl in all the world with a crappy destiny thrust upon her. The only difference now is that she's not the one girl, she's a woman and there's a lot of Slayers to help her keep evil at bay.
Still she feels a touch homesick (for Sunnydale and for a time when things were so much easier) as she settles into her hotel room. Buffy lays down on the bed, waiting for sunset since the girl she's here to see is a vampire. She suspects that she could go to Wolfram and Hart and make a scene. Andrew had told them about the special glass that the building had for the vamps so they wouldn't burst into flames but Buffy doesn't want her arrival to get back to Spike or Angel.
And truth to be told, she's grown more comfortable with the night than she is with the day. Too many years of living in the night have turned her nocturnal.
* * *
She's woken up in the late afternoon when her phone buzzes. Buffy rolls over on her side and grabs it from the bedside table. She stares at the screen as she tries to make sense of the words. For a moment, nothing really makes sense until it all falls into place: Italy, her former boys, and running away to LA (again.)
They're flying back home tomorrow.
There's no mention if they had fallen for the ploy or not. Buffy sighs as she gets out of bed and makes her way to the shower. She misses the days when Harmony couldn't shut up.
* * *
She ends up meeting Harmony in a nightclub half an hour after dusk. Cordelia's former sidekick seems to have really come into her own as a vampire. When Buffy walks over to Harmony's table, Harmony gives her a smile and then a brief hug. The pair of them order drinks and sit there in silence for a few moments.
"So," Harmony begins before she takes a sip of her drink.
"Thanks for the info," Buffy finally says. "It was appreciated."
"No problem."
"Can I ask why you decided to tell me they were on their way to Italy?"
Harmony carelessly shrugs her shoulder, flips her hair over her shoulder and takes another sip of her drink. Buffy really misses the days when Harmony felt the need to vocalize every single thought that she had.
"Let's just say I owed you a favour and I figured it'd be less awkward if you knew that your two former lovers were coming to confront you when you were with your new squeeze."
Buffy almost chokes on her cocktail. She's very much single as of late. And then she remembers: Willow's plan about the body doubles. There's a girl who looks just like her, who even answers to her name that's dating the Immortal. (Willow had explained it as a way to let Buffy live her life incognito.)
"That's, uh, not me," Buffy finally says.
"What do you mean?"
"That girl who's with the Immortal, not me," Buffy says.
Harmony looks at her in a strange way but doesn't press the issue.
"Come on, let's dance," Harmony says as she grabs Buffy's wrist and gently drags her onto the dance floor.
* * *
Buffy looses track of time as they dance for hours, the music is throbbing and heavy. It almost reminds her of being in the Bronze and dancing. The only thing that throws her off every now and then is the way that Harmony keeps pressing up against her, how she keeps moving her body in time with Buffy's. As far as Buffy knows, Harmony's never been one to like girls. In fact Buffy suspects that the whole alerting her of Spike and Angel's arrival in Italy had something to do with Harmony still having feelings for Spike.
"Let's get out of here," Harmony breathes into Buffy's ear.
Buffy nods and the pair of them make their way out of the club, stumbling out of the doorway and into the night air. Buffy likes how the chilled air hits her sweaty skin and for once in a long time, she's not worried about vampires or monsters. Even if she is with a vampire, she can't quite think of Harmony as a monster.
Someone bumps into her and before she can catch herself, Buffy is falling into Harmony's arms. (Later she'll blame the alcohol, the sense of homesickness, and pretty much everything.) She's not sure who kisses who first. One moment, Harmony's hands are gripping Buffy's biceps, helping to steady the other woman and the next, Buffy's arms are wrapping around Harmony as they move closer until their lips are pressing against one another in the hottest kiss that Buffy's experienced since just before Sunnydale became a large hole in the ground.
Buffy ignores the cheering of the people in line as they kiss. It's Harmony who pulls away. It's Harmony who flags them a cab and helps Buffy into it. It's Harmony who doesn't get into the cab and sends Buffy back to her hotel where the Slayer falls into a complicated series of dreams that all focus on Harmony and what could have been.
* * *
She's at the airport in the morning, waiting for her flight that will take her back to Italy and the temporary home of the Council when her phone buzzes.
It's really, really complicated.
Buffy sighs in frustration. She doesn't want to deal with this. She's not even sure what came over her last night. Her phone buzzes again.
Thank you for the gift.
Before she'd left her hotel, she'd had a small unicorn statuette made in Italy sent to Harmony. (That was what Buffy had intended on giving the vampire for helping her out. But somehow they had ended up kissing and then it was so awkward afterwards.) Her phone buzzes again just as her flight is called.
It's me not you. If things were different, I would have gone back to your hotel with you. Maybe some other time?
Buffy doesn't respond as she turns her phone off. Story of her life: the person she wants either isn't that into her or is emotionally unavailable. She doubts that she'll ever get that some other time that Harmony had suggested. It's just not the way things are in her life. That said if she ever does get that second chance, she's grabbing it with both hands and not letting go.
((END))
Author: Aaronlisa
Fandom: Buffy the Vampire Slayer / Angel
Pairing/Characters: Buffy Summers/Harmony Kendall
Rating: FR13
Disclaimer: Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel belong to Joss Whedon and company. The title comes from Placebo's song "Taste in Men."
Prompts: Written for femslash_minis's Round 85 for pssnfrt_ksss who wanted the pairing, a ATS Season Five setiting, PDA kiss, and Buffy bring Harmony an unicorn statuette from Italy.
Notes: Set during ATS 5x20 "The Girl In Question." I can't take credit for the idea of Buffy having body doubles post "Chosen" that does come from the Season Eight comics.
Summary: Buffy and Harmony reunite briefly in LA.
Word Count: 1391
The music in the club is loud and pounding. She can barely herself think so it's not surprising that she almost misses the vibration of her phone in her pocket. When she pulls it out, she reads the text message and can't help the tired sigh that falls from her lips.
They're in Italy.
It's surprisingly simple and to the point. For a moment, Buffy can't quite believe who it's from. However, she realizes that she doesn't have a lot of time to worry about the simplicity of a message from a girl who was never content with being straight to the point. Instead, she shoves her phone back in her pocket and she hightails it out of the club.
She manages to catch a cab and in the back seat, she pulls out her phone and makes several calls. The last thing she really needs is to have deal with Spike and Angel and their insistence that she pick one of them. When will they ever realize that it's not about them but it's about her. There's a part of her that will always love the both of them forever but she's no longer that girl who is in love with either of them.
Before she knows it, there's a decoy in Italy, living her life and dating the Immortal, while she's on a plane flying back home. She owes someone a huge favour and Buffy's learned the importance of paying back favours on her terms.
* * *
LA hasn't really changed a bit. Well that's a slight lie: there's more smog and the fashion trends have changed. But other than it's still this weird city of contradictions. It's no longer home; it hasn't really been home since she was sixteen years old and was informed that she was the Chosen One, the one girl in all the world with a crappy destiny thrust upon her. The only difference now is that she's not the one girl, she's a woman and there's a lot of Slayers to help her keep evil at bay.
Still she feels a touch homesick (for Sunnydale and for a time when things were so much easier) as she settles into her hotel room. Buffy lays down on the bed, waiting for sunset since the girl she's here to see is a vampire. She suspects that she could go to Wolfram and Hart and make a scene. Andrew had told them about the special glass that the building had for the vamps so they wouldn't burst into flames but Buffy doesn't want her arrival to get back to Spike or Angel.
And truth to be told, she's grown more comfortable with the night than she is with the day. Too many years of living in the night have turned her nocturnal.
* * *
She's woken up in the late afternoon when her phone buzzes. Buffy rolls over on her side and grabs it from the bedside table. She stares at the screen as she tries to make sense of the words. For a moment, nothing really makes sense until it all falls into place: Italy, her former boys, and running away to LA (again.)
They're flying back home tomorrow.
There's no mention if they had fallen for the ploy or not. Buffy sighs as she gets out of bed and makes her way to the shower. She misses the days when Harmony couldn't shut up.
* * *
She ends up meeting Harmony in a nightclub half an hour after dusk. Cordelia's former sidekick seems to have really come into her own as a vampire. When Buffy walks over to Harmony's table, Harmony gives her a smile and then a brief hug. The pair of them order drinks and sit there in silence for a few moments.
"So," Harmony begins before she takes a sip of her drink.
"Thanks for the info," Buffy finally says. "It was appreciated."
"No problem."
"Can I ask why you decided to tell me they were on their way to Italy?"
Harmony carelessly shrugs her shoulder, flips her hair over her shoulder and takes another sip of her drink. Buffy really misses the days when Harmony felt the need to vocalize every single thought that she had.
"Let's just say I owed you a favour and I figured it'd be less awkward if you knew that your two former lovers were coming to confront you when you were with your new squeeze."
Buffy almost chokes on her cocktail. She's very much single as of late. And then she remembers: Willow's plan about the body doubles. There's a girl who looks just like her, who even answers to her name that's dating the Immortal. (Willow had explained it as a way to let Buffy live her life incognito.)
"That's, uh, not me," Buffy finally says.
"What do you mean?"
"That girl who's with the Immortal, not me," Buffy says.
Harmony looks at her in a strange way but doesn't press the issue.
"Come on, let's dance," Harmony says as she grabs Buffy's wrist and gently drags her onto the dance floor.
* * *
Buffy looses track of time as they dance for hours, the music is throbbing and heavy. It almost reminds her of being in the Bronze and dancing. The only thing that throws her off every now and then is the way that Harmony keeps pressing up against her, how she keeps moving her body in time with Buffy's. As far as Buffy knows, Harmony's never been one to like girls. In fact Buffy suspects that the whole alerting her of Spike and Angel's arrival in Italy had something to do with Harmony still having feelings for Spike.
"Let's get out of here," Harmony breathes into Buffy's ear.
Buffy nods and the pair of them make their way out of the club, stumbling out of the doorway and into the night air. Buffy likes how the chilled air hits her sweaty skin and for once in a long time, she's not worried about vampires or monsters. Even if she is with a vampire, she can't quite think of Harmony as a monster.
Someone bumps into her and before she can catch herself, Buffy is falling into Harmony's arms. (Later she'll blame the alcohol, the sense of homesickness, and pretty much everything.) She's not sure who kisses who first. One moment, Harmony's hands are gripping Buffy's biceps, helping to steady the other woman and the next, Buffy's arms are wrapping around Harmony as they move closer until their lips are pressing against one another in the hottest kiss that Buffy's experienced since just before Sunnydale became a large hole in the ground.
Buffy ignores the cheering of the people in line as they kiss. It's Harmony who pulls away. It's Harmony who flags them a cab and helps Buffy into it. It's Harmony who doesn't get into the cab and sends Buffy back to her hotel where the Slayer falls into a complicated series of dreams that all focus on Harmony and what could have been.
* * *
She's at the airport in the morning, waiting for her flight that will take her back to Italy and the temporary home of the Council when her phone buzzes.
It's really, really complicated.
Buffy sighs in frustration. She doesn't want to deal with this. She's not even sure what came over her last night. Her phone buzzes again.
Thank you for the gift.
Before she'd left her hotel, she'd had a small unicorn statuette made in Italy sent to Harmony. (That was what Buffy had intended on giving the vampire for helping her out. But somehow they had ended up kissing and then it was so awkward afterwards.) Her phone buzzes again just as her flight is called.
It's me not you. If things were different, I would have gone back to your hotel with you. Maybe some other time?
Buffy doesn't respond as she turns her phone off. Story of her life: the person she wants either isn't that into her or is emotionally unavailable. She doubts that she'll ever get that some other time that Harmony had suggested. It's just not the way things are in her life. That said if she ever does get that second chance, she's grabbing it with both hands and not letting go.
((END))