What I Am
by sailor80
Eleven
[reviews]
Although they didn't' know it, Willow and Tara woke up in identical positions. Both were sleeping on her right side, with a Slayer glommed on her back. Said Slayers managed during the night to separate their partners legs with their own, so the witches were spread open on the Slayer's thigh. The Slayers also managed to get both arms around their bed partners. One hand cupped and fondled a breast. The other pressed into the witches' lower abdomen, holding her securely in place.
Buffy woke first. Delighted with their position, she pulled Willow closer and began to purr. Willow murmured, but didn't stir, so Buffy closed her eyes and let Willow fill her other senses. She recalled her dream of a happily-ever-after life with Willow and wondered how long it would take them to reach it. Willow stirred against her, and all thoughts not involving the joy of their physical contact fled.
"Mmm, Buffy?" Willow asked sleepily.
"Hi, baby," Buffy answered. She kissed Willow's shoulder.
"What time's it?"
"Don't know. Don't care."
"We should get up."
"Why?" Buffy flexed her fingers gently against Willow's breast.
"Mmmm," Willow hummed. "Seems like the thing to do."
"Not to me." Buffy kissed the length of Willow's neck. She felt Willow's heartbeat speed up, and Willow turned her head toward Buffy. Buffy took her time reaching Willow's lips, but once she was there, Willow took over their kiss. Buffy pressed her thigh more firmly between Willow's, and Willow moaned.
Down the hall, Tara woke. She had a moment of panic at the intimacy of Faith's embrace before she realized they were both clothed. She toyed for a few seconds with finishing what Faith was trying to start before sturdy common sense took over. Tara made herself relax, and as she did, Faith's holds on her relaxed enough that Tara was able to slide away. Faith grunted, and Tara pushed her pillow toward her. Faith wrapped both arms around it for a moment, then pushed it away.
Tara stood at the bedside and stretched. Faith's sleepy voice startled her.
"Where you goin'?" Faith asked.
Tara turned around. Faith had one eye cracked open and fixed on Tara. Tara smiled at her, and said softly. "It's time to get up."
"Nuh uh," Faith answered. She pushed Tara's pillow further away and lifted the covers. "Come back to bed."
"Not now," Tara said. "Go back to sleep."
Faith sighed and sat up. "Now I'm awake."
"S-s-sorry."
Faith shrugged. She rolled off the bed. She and Tara stood looking at each other for a few seconds. Tara turned away first. She headed toward the bathroom, and closed the door behind herself.
Faith made the bed, then went to her bag and pulled out some clothes. Then, she folded the blanket and put it back where she found it, and tucked the pillow into the low spot under the bedspread.
Tara came out of the bathroom a few minutes later, dressed in grey combat pants and a UCSD Henley shirt, carrying her boots. Faith went in to the bathroom to prepare for the day, and when she came out, Tara was nowhere in sight. Faith heard Buffy and Willow warming up, and headed downstairs.
She smelled coffee, and followed that scent to the kitchen. Tara had bacon sizzling in a pan, and was mixing something in a bowl. There was an empty cup by the coffee maker, and sugar, cream, and a spoon sat nearby.
"Smells good," Faith said while pouring herself coffee.
"Thanks."
"Need help?" Faith offered.
"Can you f-find the plates?"
"Sure." Faith swallowed some coffee and put the cup down. She began to go methodically through the cabinets and drawers, until she found plates and silverware. She put a stack of plates on the counter near Tara. "Anything else?"
"No."
Faith nodded. She retrieved her coffee and leaned against the counter to watch Tara. It wasn't long before Tara handed a plate full of pancakes and bacon to Faith. "Aren't you going to eat?"
"In a minute," Tara answered.
"I can wait," Faith said, and handed the plate back. Tara stepped back from the stove, and put the plate in the oven. She had set it on low before beginning, because she suspected that Buffy and Willow wouldn't be down any time soon.
When everything finished cooking, Tara turned off the burners. She removed Faith's plate from the oven and replaced it with a plate full of bacon and two of pancakes. She put two pieces of bacon and two pancakes on another plate, then closed the oven.
By the time she reached the table, Faith had put butter and three kinds of syrup on the table. She grinned at Tara and gestured at them. "Who knew Fang would have a sweet tooth?" she asked.
Tara smiled back as she took her seat. Faith ate quickly. Before Tara was halfway through her plate, Faith was up getting seconds. When they finished eating, Faith cleared the table and began washing up. When Tara tried to help, Faith glared at her until Tara refilled her coffee cup and returned to her seat at the table.
Her task complete, Faith turned to face Tara and leaned against the sink. "What now?"
Tara shrugged. "I don't think I'm going to class today," she said with a small smile.
"Nope," Faith agreed. "How about some exploring?"
"Okay," Tara agreed, and stood up.
They wandered through the first floor, and found their way back to the patio entrance. In the daylight, Tara could see the garden, and she and Faith went out into the morning light. Faith was quickly bored with following Tara through the plants. She returned to the patio and began her morning exercise routine, making certain to keep one eye on Tara.
As Faith finished, she heard Buffy calling her name. She went into the house briefly to point Willow and Buffy toward the oven. When she returned to the patio, Tara was nowhere in sight. "Blondie?" she called tentatively.
Tara's head appeared over a row of hawthorn. "What?"
"Just checking." Faith exhaled with relief. "B and Red are up."
"Good." Tara's head fell out of sight again, so Faith walked toward her. Tara was crouched in front of a small flower. Her fingers stroked the petals gently. "You okay?" Faith asked.
Tara looked up, but her hand stayed in motion. "Yeah." She smiled at Faith. "I haven't seen one of these in a long time. My Gram had them in her garden."
"What is it?"
"Primrose."
"What's it do?"
"Um, nothing. It's pretty. And it reminds me of Gram." Tara smiled briefly, then looked back at the pink flower. She missed her grandmother, who had been Tara's safety net even before her mother died.
"It'll be okay," Faith said softly. She stood and offered Tara her hand. After a few seconds, Tara put her hand in Faith's and stood.
They walked back to the patio, and into the mansion. Buffy and Willow were still eating. Buffy swallowed and looked at Tara. "This is great. Thank you so much."
"Yeah, thanks, Tara," Willow added between mouthfuls.
"You're welcome." Tara sat in the chair across from Willow. Faith got coffee for both of them before sitting next to Tara.
They waited for Buffy and Willow to finish before starting a conversation.
"Okay, what's next?" Faith asked.
"Research," Willow said. "We need to call Xander. And Giles. And maybe Riley." She glanced at Tara and said, "Or not."
"What are we researching?" Buffy asked.
"We have those disks," Willow said.
"Ha!" Faith interjected. "You," she said, looking at Willow, "have those disks. The rest of us have bupkus."
"Well, yes," Willow agreed.
"B, wanna spar?"
Buffy looked at Willow for a moment before accepting Faith's challenge. "You're on." She stood up. So did Faith.
Willow looked from one to the other. "Play nice, you two," she warned. She gathered the dishes they used in front of her before getting up. While Willow washed up, Tara followed the Slayers outside. Tara sat on a patch of grass just off the patio to watch them.
She had been there a while when Willow joined her. "How goes it?" Tara asked.
"Slow," Willow sighed. "The encryption algorithms keep changing. How are you?"
"I don't know. Waiting for the other sh-shoe to drop."
Willow patted Tara's shoulder. "It'll be okay," she reassured, and turned her attention to Buffy.
"Thanks," Tara answered, and followed Willow's gaze to the Slayers grappling in the grass.
Buffy and Faith were horsing around, Willow could tell. She supposed their play might look real to someone who didn't know them. They taunted each other, though the witches couldn't hear most of it.
Willow sat for a few minutes, then started to get up.
"Where are you going?" Tara asked.
"Back to work," Willow answered.
"Could you stay, please? We could, um, meditate."
Willow hesitated a moment, then dropped back to the grass. "Sure," she smiled.
Tara turned to face her. They sat cross-legged, knees touching, each with one hand on the ground and one on the other's knee. It was easy for the two of them work together, and both fell quickly into a light trance. Before long, they were floating half a foot from the ground.
Buffy saw them from the corner of her eye. She was distracted by the picture of Willow floating with Tara. 'That's for me,' her mind yelled indignantly, causing her to miss the launch of Faith's attack. Faith knocked Buffy to the ground with a roundhouse.
Buffy sprung to her feet, yelling "Hey!"
Faith, thinking she was being addressed, told Buffy. "You shoulda ducked, B."
The comment was lost on Buffy, who was all ready moving toward Willow. She put her hand on Willow's shoulder and felt the enormous amount of power the two witches were circulating between them.
Faith was startled by Buffy's sudden abandonment of their game. Her eyes followed Buffy to the witches, and Faith grinned at the sight of them hovering above ground.
Buffy's touch threw Willow off a little, but she easily picked up the strands of their meditation. By mutual consent, it ended a few seconds later. "Better?" Willow asked Tara, while raising one hand to cover Buffy's.
Tara nodded, but refused to look up.
"Good," Willow said. She looked up at Buffy. "Hi."
"We need to talk," Buffy ordered.
Willow's brows knitted together at her lover's tone, but she got to her feet and let Buffy pull her into the house.
"What was that?" Buffy demanded as soon as the door closed behind them.
"What was what?" Willow countered.
"The floating. I thought that was for us."
Willow finally realized that Buffy was jealous. "It's a side effect," she said gently. "It means we're relaxed and in sync."
"I don't want you to be relaxed and in sync with Tara," Buffy pouted.
"Buffy, I don't want to be with Tara." Willow moved half a step closer to Buffy and touched her cheek lightly. "I love you."
"I love you, too, Will." Buffy's tone was softer.
Willow's computer began to chime incessantly. She smiled at Buffy and went to it. Buffy followed her. Willow tapped a few keys and said, "Wow."
"Wow, what?" Buffy stood behind Willow and looked at the screen. It was all gibberish to her, but Willow was nearly bouncing with excitement.
"Schematics. We could've used them before. Wonder what's on the other two?" Willow quickly saved the files from the disk to her hard drive and ejected it. She replaced it with another. This one opened immediately, and she glanced at the files. They were named with dates, so she opened a few at random. They tracked the progress of some project. The third disk had more text files, which appeared to be reports. Willow quickly became so engrossed in reading that she forgot Buffy was there.
"Will?" Buffy tried to get her attention.
"Hmm?"
"Anything I can do to help?"
Willow tore her gaze from screen to look up at Buffy. "Not really. I need to go through all this stuff."
"Okay," Buffy said, and sighed. She slid into the seat next to Willow. Willow turned her attention back to the computer.