The Perk, Monday Morning

[life_inshadow]

When Tara got to Fandom Friday night, it had been with plans of a quiet weekend dancing in her head. When she woke up, it was two days later, she was in the park, she was damp from rain, and all she had to show for it was a bunch of strange dreams about being a house. The island's sense of humor sort of sucked.

She went to the Perk to get some chai and wait for her portal back to Sunnydale. Her phone buzzed as she sat down, and she glanced at it to see a text from Willow.

Oz is gone. I only want to be with you. Come home & I'll make everything up to you?

Tara felt warmer from that message than from the tea. And all of a sudden, her portal couldn't come soon enough.

[OOC: Open like a coffee shop!]

Comments

[glacial_queen]

Karla stopped in on her way to Chilly Boulder. She needed an extra-large coffee, but even if she hadn't, spotting Tara would have had her wandering in anyway.

"Kiss kiss," she said, nodding at the barista from yesterday and signaling an 'extra tall.' "You look happy about something? Glad to be you again? Or that everyone else is?"

[life_inshadow]

"It's -- a Willow thing," Tara said hesitantly, looking up from her phone. "A good Willow thing. People weren't themselves? I ... kind of slept through the weekend."

Or something like that.

[glacial_queen]

"No wonder I hadn't seen you," Karla said with a nod. She'd noticed the big house in the park, of course, but hadn't put the two together. Someone had never seen Left With the Breeze. "You didn't miss much. Most people were other people this weekend. Same old, same old."

But that was boring.

"Willow news?" Karla prodded gently.

[life_inshadow]

Tara had seen Left in the Breeze, but for some strange reason -- denial, mostly -- she hadn't put two and two together. Better to think of the whole thing as a strange dream.

"Who were you?" she asked, curious. "And ... yeah. Her, um, her ex was in town which is -- kind of part of why I was so happy to go to Kaeleer, sorry -- and she texted me to let me know he's gone, and she let him know she's with me now. She'd been ... having a hard time admitting that. She's never dated a girl, so..."

"Anyhow," Tara finished. "Drama averted. And now we're going to pick out a cat to share."

[glacial_queen]

"I was me," Karla said. "Witness to everyone else wandering around, not knowing anyone or where they were." She wrinkled her nose. "Not a fan of staying myself when no one else does."

She could handle being a person when everyone else was a pony, but being surrounded by a sea of friends, none of whom knew her, rankled.

"So let's talk about you and Willow instead," she said, doing a happy little chair dance. "Gonna adopt a new kitty? Natalie too attached to Mr. Moxy?"

[life_inshadow]

"Done," Tara said, since she was still in that new-relationship stage where her-and-Willow was infinitely more interesting than Fandom weirdness. "And, um ... I think we are. I kind of want something that's just ... ours. Mox seems happy here, and he's a little noisy for a no-pets dorm."

She shrugged a little, goofy smile still on hear face. "I mean, I loved Kennedy. Part of me always will. But this is just right. Willow gets me in a way Kennedy kind of ... couldn't."

[glacial_queen]

"Isn't Willow also a witch?" Karla asked. "That's a big part of your life and Kennedy...didn't really understand much about it."

Which was the nice way of saying that Kennedy didn't have much patience for things that didn't involve hitting the bad guys.

[life_inshadow]

"That's a big piece of it," Tara nodded, glad Karla didn't think she was picking on her ex or anything. "And Kennedy ... I mean, she's smart, but she isn't really into being smart? Where Willow -- Willow color-coded her notes until I told her it was, um, quirky."

[glacial_queen]

"Wooooooow," Karla said, trying not to laugh and only barely succeeding. "That's umm...yeah, quirky."

She was going to take a long sip of coffee now to try to keep that laughter at bay.

"So, you guys are kind of on the same level. You both prioritize the same things."

[life_inshadow]

"But cute, right?" Tara asked, in the tone of one who had decided everything about her new girlfriend was cute and refused to be told otherwise. "And, not to be shallow, but ... the red hair. There's something about redheads, you know?"

And no, Tara didn't care Willow helped her hair color along.

[glacial_queen]

"Very cute!" Karla hurried to agree, recognizing that tone herself. "I'm sad I still haven't had a chance to meet her. She sounds sweet and adorable and exactly like...what you need, you know?"

She waved that away. "I mean, not need-need, because, obviously, you don't need anyone, but...she's not going to accidentally steamroll you, either."

[life_inshadow]

"She's ... really not the steamroller type. And anytime you need a break and want to come out and see her, you can," Tara said. "The dorms are open all summer."

[glacial_queen]

"Maybe," Karla said, unwilling to make any promises. "But I'm not sure how often I'll be able to leave. It's not like the people I'm leading will get breaks and they'll be facing worse than me."

[life_inshadow]

"Well," Tara said slowly, "then I'll just have to come visit you and see if she wants to tag along."