Casa de Summers, Sunnydale, California, Mid-January 2003 (Tuesday Fandom Time)
The good part: so far, they hadn't had any more attacks by the First's minions since the night Buffy dusted the Turok-Han in the construction yard.
The bad part: it made their training patrols with Buffy feel a bit anticlimactic. Sure, training with Spike was more of a challenge and they'd gotten the chance to stake a few more vamps of their own on some of those patrols, and that had a good effect on the girls' confidence levels, but that didn't stop the nagging feeling that the other shoe was just waiting to drop.
Stupid hypothetical ninja footwear.
Unfortunately (or fortunately according to a highly localized perspective) that meant finding distractions from said nagging feeling, and while most of the girls opted for calling home or indulging in more gossip or driving Anya and Dawn to despair with their constant raiding of the kitchen for snacks, Kennedy fell back on an old familiar pastime.
Namely, flirting with Willow, all systems go. In her defense (or so she'd claim) the way Willow got all blushy and stammery when she did just made it more fun, and okay, it was completely adorable. That really didn't give Kennedy much incentive to stop. Even if it did threaten to bring out the secret sap in her, it felt like an accomplishment to get Willow to smile.
And oh, hey, another opportunity to do that had just presented itself.
Willow
Willow? Busy researching. Try to contain your shock.
Kennedy
Kennedy was totally shocked! Wait, no, she was used to this by now.
"Hey," she said brightly, wandering over. "Anything interesting and possibly useful today?"
Willow
Willow sighed and flipped the book shut. "Nothing. Not an incantation, not a spell, not even a recipe for a way to turn a banana and half a Wasa cracker into a meal for a houseful of potentials."
Kennedy
"Damn. That'd be useful." Sometimes it was hard to tell whether the lack of useful information was more or less frustrating than the food issue. Kennedy chewed on her lower lip and finally shrugged, offering lightly, "Tried looking cute at the books? I mean, couldn't hurt."
Willow
"Tried... what?" Willow asked. She knew those words, but not necessarily in that order.
Kennedy
"Looking cute at the books," Kennedy repeated with a pointed raise of her eyebrows. "Which, for you, is pretty easy, right?"
Willow
"Oh." Willow said. "I - um - what? Did the books say something? They're not supposed to be talking by the way. Not that I'm punishing them with muteness, just that these aren't the kind that are supposed to have speech."
Kennedy
"Or--" Kennedy managed to draw that word out for a while. "They're struck speechless by said cuteness. Not that I blame them if they are."
Not that she'd been subtle before, but this might take obvious up a notch.
Willow
"No I'm pretty sure they lack vocal cords," Willow said.
Kennedy
"Oh, right." Kennedy, you knew that. "Must've gotten them confused with me."
Except for all the talking.
Willow
"You don't look like a book," Willow said. The idea that someone would be flirting with her was just not sinking in.
Kennedy
Kennedy tried to play the cute-pout card. "Would you spend more quality time with me if I did? 'cause I'm way more adorable, promise."
Willow
"We're not talking about reading anymore, are we?" Willow guessed.
Kennedy
Why Kennedy found this more endearing than frustrating was anyone's guess, but there it was. Maybe she'd lost interest in girls who knew they were all that.
Really, there was one incredibly cheesy thing to say here, so she had to say it.
"Well... reading my lips, maybe?"
So smooth. So smooth.
Willow
"I'm not deaf," Willow pointed out. "Not that I don't sometimes wish it what with how noisy the place has been lately."
Kennedy
...Kennedy really couldn't blame her there, no.
"Yeah, but." And there she was, not quite invading personal space, just edging closer to it with a deliberate smile. "Bet I could totally distract you from the noise for a while."
Oh, as if she'd been unsubtle before.
Willow
Willow didn't "eep." Not really.
"This has been pretty darn distracting already," Willow said.
Kennedy
"And I'm just getting warmed up," Kennedy pointed out.
Sigh, Kennedy.
Willow
"I thought it was just the room," Willow admitted.
Kennedy
"Or maybe I'm just that good." Kennedy snapped her fingers playfully. Why not go for broke here? Carpe diem and all; Drake would probably approve.
"Which, don't get me wrong, I am, but why just take my word for it?"
Willow
Well sure, that was one option. Another was for Willow to swallow nervously, then say, "IthinkIhearBuffycallingmegottagobye."
No prize for guessing which one Willow ended up with.
Xander
There was 'sometimes it takes Andrew to set off my gaydar' and then there was living under a rock where his friends were concerned, which was, as Dawn had pointed out not so long ago, not really Xander's style. Especially not now when they were practically living on top of each other. Not dirty.
Yet. Which was kind of why this was the perfect, if by that you mean perfectly awkward, moment to say something he'd been meaning to for a while. "Hey, mini-Faith without the crazy. Want to come help me comparison shop for power-tools?"
That... was actually going somewhere non-offensive, badly-chosen as the metaphor might be.
Kennedy
Hey, even if it was going somewhere non-offensive Kennedy wasn't the type to look that far down the semantic road, so he would get a raised eyebrow for it.
"And hello with the god-I-hope-that's-not-dirty." Though really, she wouldn't say no to a break from the house, and was already heading toward the door. "This a new strategy? Go after the First with electric screwdrivers?"
Because that choice of words made it better. No, actually, it was Kennedy's vaguely condescending tone that made with the not-helping.
Xander
"Actually I was thinking I need to pick up a chainsaw that's subtler than you. Should be pretty easy to find, but if you came along I could test it..."
Kennedy
Kennedy stopped mid-stride and scowled. "Hey." Which was more 'hey, what's wrong with being not subtle?' than 'hey, I resemble th--' No, okay, it was both, with a side of not for bisecting, thanks.
Xander
"Not on you." GOD, Kennedy. "Just to see if I can hear the motor over the sound of your smooth moves."
Kennedy
Oh. So that was the deal.
"Look," said Kennedy, not caring if that was supposed to be a critique of her 'smooth moves' or not, "if you have a problem with it..."
You know, other than her coming on like ten tons of bricks.
Xander
"I'd have said something three years ago?" Aside from Tara's your GIRLfriend? which was not so much a problem with that as a problem with ... living under a rock. At the time. They kind of all had, that year. "If you can make my best friend smile for the first time in months, I could give a crap whether or not you're into power tools. Though you should be, 'cause they're awesome."
A) Focus, Xander. B) Sometimes you shouldn't say words.
"I'm just saying you might want to downshift from Ludicrous Speed there; Willow's been through a lot this year."
Kennedy
...Kennedy could have said something there about not needing power tools, thanks, but she figured the 'puh-leeze' look said it for her. Still, she couldn't fault him for being concerned about his friend, even if she was annoyed at being called out.
Something about this conversation felt familiar, though.
"Yeah, other-you didn't have a problem with it either. He said his husband might, though." No, she really couldn't resist throwing that out there, with a smug little grin, just to see what kind of reaction she'd get. "Also he was beating his head into a wall..."
That had nothing to do with Willow being into girls, Kennedy.
Xander
Xander, mouth hanging open like it fell off the hinge is not an attractive look on you, unless you want other people making power tool jokes.
One...two...three... SNAP shut, and an eyeroll.
"Very funny." Except for how the wall-beating did kind of sound like him... "Did mirror-universe me have a goatee, too?"
Kennedy
Kennedy tried to picture that, muffled a snicker, and shook her head. "Nah, I'd have remembered that horror."
But back to the point. Any Galaxy Quest references there didn't occur to her.
"And I get that, her going through a lot. Only been sharing a room with her for weeks now; I mean, kinda hard not to notice." Which was part of why the challenge of getting her to smile was so much fun. Kennedy frowned, actually serious now. "Is this where the disclaimer about 'if you hurt her' comes in, possibly involving the chainsaw? 'cause that's a little premature."
Xander
"No, this is where the disclaimer about less than a year ago her girlfriend got shot to death in front of her so she flayed the guy alive and tried to blow up the world comes in. But maybe you already picked that up while you were braiding each others' hair?"
Kennedy
Kennedy winced. "Is that why--" So no, she hadn't picked that up yet (and there was a tiny bit of an eyeroll for the hair-braiding comment). She thought about Jaenelle again, and what she'd done to the Jhinka in her grief over a friend. Multiplied that by about a hundred, no, about a hundred thousand, and bit her lip. "God."
Not even she could miss how incongruous it was that finding this out made her want to give Willow a hug.
"Point taken," she went on, more subdued now. God, if she'd had that kind of power and something like that had happened to Tara while they were together she'd probably have tried to do the same thing-- which was different, really, but the only frame of reference she had. "This is me, foot off the gas."
Xander
"Well, it is Willow. Sometimes you have to drive over her foot to get her attention." If Xander had any awareness of the universe-bending amount of hypocrisy inherent in that statement, he didn't show it. "But I think you got that covered just now, so yeah, taking it easy could be a thing. And if she's a little gunshy..." He did have the good grace to wince hard at that one. With both eyes, despite the otherwise super-appropriate icon. "Now you know why."
Kennedy
Yeah, when even Kennedy winced at someone's choice of words? Yeah.
"Duly noted," she answered, and even if she looked more subdued now she didn't exactly look any less determined. "And good to know, actually. So, uh... thanks for that."
[[1 of 2, nfi/nfb/ooc-okay, same ol' same ol' drill. takes place after 7x12, "potential," but before 7x13, "the killer in me." preplayed with the spectacular willbedone and the stupendous needsaparrot. i maybe downloaded a thesaurus app for my ooc notes. shush.]]
The bad part: it made their training patrols with Buffy feel a bit anticlimactic. Sure, training with Spike was more of a challenge and they'd gotten the chance to stake a few more vamps of their own on some of those patrols, and that had a good effect on the girls' confidence levels, but that didn't stop the nagging feeling that the other shoe was just waiting to drop.
Stupid hypothetical ninja footwear.
Unfortunately (or fortunately according to a highly localized perspective) that meant finding distractions from said nagging feeling, and while most of the girls opted for calling home or indulging in more gossip or driving Anya and Dawn to despair with their constant raiding of the kitchen for snacks, Kennedy fell back on an old familiar pastime.
Namely, flirting with Willow, all systems go. In her defense (or so she'd claim) the way Willow got all blushy and stammery when she did just made it more fun, and okay, it was completely adorable. That really didn't give Kennedy much incentive to stop. Even if it did threaten to bring out the secret sap in her, it felt like an accomplishment to get Willow to smile.
And oh, hey, another opportunity to do that had just presented itself.
Willow
Willow? Busy researching. Try to contain your shock.
Kennedy
Kennedy was totally shocked! Wait, no, she was used to this by now.
"Hey," she said brightly, wandering over. "Anything interesting and possibly useful today?"
Willow
Willow sighed and flipped the book shut. "Nothing. Not an incantation, not a spell, not even a recipe for a way to turn a banana and half a Wasa cracker into a meal for a houseful of potentials."
Kennedy
"Damn. That'd be useful." Sometimes it was hard to tell whether the lack of useful information was more or less frustrating than the food issue. Kennedy chewed on her lower lip and finally shrugged, offering lightly, "Tried looking cute at the books? I mean, couldn't hurt."
Willow
"Tried... what?" Willow asked. She knew those words, but not necessarily in that order.
Kennedy
"Looking cute at the books," Kennedy repeated with a pointed raise of her eyebrows. "Which, for you, is pretty easy, right?"
Willow
"Oh." Willow said. "I - um - what? Did the books say something? They're not supposed to be talking by the way. Not that I'm punishing them with muteness, just that these aren't the kind that are supposed to have speech."
Kennedy
"Or--" Kennedy managed to draw that word out for a while. "They're struck speechless by said cuteness. Not that I blame them if they are."
Not that she'd been subtle before, but this might take obvious up a notch.
Willow
"No I'm pretty sure they lack vocal cords," Willow said.
Kennedy
"Oh, right." Kennedy, you knew that. "Must've gotten them confused with me."
Except for all the talking.
Willow
"You don't look like a book," Willow said. The idea that someone would be flirting with her was just not sinking in.
Kennedy
Kennedy tried to play the cute-pout card. "Would you spend more quality time with me if I did? 'cause I'm way more adorable, promise."
Willow
"We're not talking about reading anymore, are we?" Willow guessed.
Kennedy
Why Kennedy found this more endearing than frustrating was anyone's guess, but there it was. Maybe she'd lost interest in girls who knew they were all that.
Really, there was one incredibly cheesy thing to say here, so she had to say it.
"Well... reading my lips, maybe?"
So smooth. So smooth.
Willow
"I'm not deaf," Willow pointed out. "Not that I don't sometimes wish it what with how noisy the place has been lately."
Kennedy
...Kennedy really couldn't blame her there, no.
"Yeah, but." And there she was, not quite invading personal space, just edging closer to it with a deliberate smile. "Bet I could totally distract you from the noise for a while."
Oh, as if she'd been unsubtle before.
Willow
Willow didn't "eep." Not really.
"This has been pretty darn distracting already," Willow said.
Kennedy
"And I'm just getting warmed up," Kennedy pointed out.
Sigh, Kennedy.
Willow
"I thought it was just the room," Willow admitted.
Kennedy
"Or maybe I'm just that good." Kennedy snapped her fingers playfully. Why not go for broke here? Carpe diem and all; Drake would probably approve.
"Which, don't get me wrong, I am, but why just take my word for it?"
Willow
Well sure, that was one option. Another was for Willow to swallow nervously, then say, "IthinkIhearBuffycallingmegottagobye."
No prize for guessing which one Willow ended up with.
Xander
There was 'sometimes it takes Andrew to set off my gaydar' and then there was living under a rock where his friends were concerned, which was, as Dawn had pointed out not so long ago, not really Xander's style. Especially not now when they were practically living on top of each other. Not dirty.
Yet. Which was kind of why this was the perfect, if by that you mean perfectly awkward, moment to say something he'd been meaning to for a while. "Hey, mini-Faith without the crazy. Want to come help me comparison shop for power-tools?"
That... was actually going somewhere non-offensive, badly-chosen as the metaphor might be.
Kennedy
Hey, even if it was going somewhere non-offensive Kennedy wasn't the type to look that far down the semantic road, so he would get a raised eyebrow for it.
"And hello with the god-I-hope-that's-not-dirty." Though really, she wouldn't say no to a break from the house, and was already heading toward the door. "This a new strategy? Go after the First with electric screwdrivers?"
Because that choice of words made it better. No, actually, it was Kennedy's vaguely condescending tone that made with the not-helping.
Xander
"Actually I was thinking I need to pick up a chainsaw that's subtler than you. Should be pretty easy to find, but if you came along I could test it..."
Kennedy
Kennedy stopped mid-stride and scowled. "Hey." Which was more 'hey, what's wrong with being not subtle?' than 'hey, I resemble th--' No, okay, it was both, with a side of not for bisecting, thanks.
Xander
"Not on you." GOD, Kennedy. "Just to see if I can hear the motor over the sound of your smooth moves."
Kennedy
Oh. So that was the deal.
"Look," said Kennedy, not caring if that was supposed to be a critique of her 'smooth moves' or not, "if you have a problem with it..."
You know, other than her coming on like ten tons of bricks.
Xander
"I'd have said something three years ago?" Aside from Tara's your GIRLfriend? which was not so much a problem with that as a problem with ... living under a rock. At the time. They kind of all had, that year. "If you can make my best friend smile for the first time in months, I could give a crap whether or not you're into power tools. Though you should be, 'cause they're awesome."
A) Focus, Xander. B) Sometimes you shouldn't say words.
"I'm just saying you might want to downshift from Ludicrous Speed there; Willow's been through a lot this year."
Kennedy
...Kennedy could have said something there about not needing power tools, thanks, but she figured the 'puh-leeze' look said it for her. Still, she couldn't fault him for being concerned about his friend, even if she was annoyed at being called out.
Something about this conversation felt familiar, though.
"Yeah, other-you didn't have a problem with it either. He said his husband might, though." No, she really couldn't resist throwing that out there, with a smug little grin, just to see what kind of reaction she'd get. "Also he was beating his head into a wall..."
That had nothing to do with Willow being into girls, Kennedy.
Xander
Xander, mouth hanging open like it fell off the hinge is not an attractive look on you, unless you want other people making power tool jokes.
One...two...three... SNAP shut, and an eyeroll.
"Very funny." Except for how the wall-beating did kind of sound like him... "Did mirror-universe me have a goatee, too?"
Kennedy
Kennedy tried to picture that, muffled a snicker, and shook her head. "Nah, I'd have remembered that horror."
But back to the point. Any Galaxy Quest references there didn't occur to her.
"And I get that, her going through a lot. Only been sharing a room with her for weeks now; I mean, kinda hard not to notice." Which was part of why the challenge of getting her to smile was so much fun. Kennedy frowned, actually serious now. "Is this where the disclaimer about 'if you hurt her' comes in, possibly involving the chainsaw? 'cause that's a little premature."
Xander
"No, this is where the disclaimer about less than a year ago her girlfriend got shot to death in front of her so she flayed the guy alive and tried to blow up the world comes in. But maybe you already picked that up while you were braiding each others' hair?"
Kennedy
Kennedy winced. "Is that why--" So no, she hadn't picked that up yet (and there was a tiny bit of an eyeroll for the hair-braiding comment). She thought about Jaenelle again, and what she'd done to the Jhinka in her grief over a friend. Multiplied that by about a hundred, no, about a hundred thousand, and bit her lip. "God."
Not even she could miss how incongruous it was that finding this out made her want to give Willow a hug.
"Point taken," she went on, more subdued now. God, if she'd had that kind of power and something like that had happened to Tara while they were together she'd probably have tried to do the same thing-- which was different, really, but the only frame of reference she had. "This is me, foot off the gas."
Xander
"Well, it is Willow. Sometimes you have to drive over her foot to get her attention." If Xander had any awareness of the universe-bending amount of hypocrisy inherent in that statement, he didn't show it. "But I think you got that covered just now, so yeah, taking it easy could be a thing. And if she's a little gunshy..." He did have the good grace to wince hard at that one. With both eyes, despite the otherwise super-appropriate icon. "Now you know why."
Kennedy
Yeah, when even Kennedy winced at someone's choice of words? Yeah.
"Duly noted," she answered, and even if she looked more subdued now she didn't exactly look any less determined. "And good to know, actually. So, uh... thanks for that."
[[1 of 2, nfi/nfb/ooc-okay, same ol' same ol' drill. takes place after 7x12, "potential," but before 7x13, "the killer in me." preplayed with the spectacular willbedone and the stupendous needsaparrot. i maybe downloaded a thesaurus app for my ooc notes. shush.]]