Hey Kittens - Here is the promised update.
Rating: PG-13 to R
No health or angst warnings in effect.
Violence rating - about a 7 on a scale of 1-10
Hope you all have fun.
****
The beat of the music that had been muted from outside the room now pulsed and throbbed around them as they stood just inside the doorway, letting their eyes adjust to the lower lighting.
“Tara! It’s been such a long time! How are you?” The woman at the door abandoned her post and came around for a proper greeting.
She smiled and surrendered herself to a hug. “Hi Liz. I’m f-fine.”
“So where have you been?” Liz asked, not releasing her arms.
“Um, W-Wicca group, mostly. There always s-seems to be a conflict between that and this. Oh – Liz, I w-want you to meet Danielle. She’s been here a few times.” Tara introduced the two women.
“I remember.” Liz’s face had a peculiarly pained and guilty look on it. “I’m sorry, but I just ….”
“It’s done. I’m a fool, just like you said.” Danielle’s voice was harsh.
“But if you want to talk …?” Liz offered in a soft voice.
“Talking won’t fix it. Nothing can.” Danielle glanced at Tara. “I’m going to get a soda.”
Tara considered following her, but glanced Liz’s way when she heard the woman sigh deeply.
“If only ….”
“If only wh-what, Liz?”
“Nothing.” Liz frowned in the direction Danielle had gone, then turned back to her, her smile back. “You look good.”
Tara ducked her head.
“So … you ARE seeing someone,” Liz chuckled.
She met the other woman’s eyes and nodded emphatically. “Yes. She’s really … great.” She felt her love for Willow explode through her body.
Liz smiled. “So when are the two of you going to come to a meeting or a dance?”
“I d-don’t know – I’ll have to see.” She answered Liz’s smile with one of her own. Suddenly she shivered. Turning around, she saw a woman in black looking her over slowly and very obviously as they walked up.
“Sarah! No. Wait.” Danielle caught up with them.
They stopped, one glaring in anger, the other – the one in black – smiling cruelly. That one was the one who spoke in a low voice. “Well, well.”
“I’m …. You don’t need her .…” Danielle floundered.
“I don’t need you, little girl. I told you that the last time. I had you and, well, … you’re nothing.” She laughed mockingly and rested her hand lightly on the arm of the other girl. “This, though, I expect to enjoy … quite a lot. I did the first time.” She guided her companion out of the room.
“No. I ….” Danielle’s voice was a whisper, but she didn’t follow after them.
“D-Danielle, um, ….” Tara had to wonder – What exactly could she say?
The brown-haired girl barely looked at her before staring angrily at Liz, eyes brimming with tears. “Are you going to lecture me again?” Not giving her a chance to reply, she whirled and stormed off.
“No.” Liz shook her head, and caught Tara’s arm when she tried to follow. “Don’t. Just give her some space.” She waited until Tara finally nodded and dropped her hand. “I am going to get that bitch banned from here, so help me God.” She walked back to her post.
“Wh-Who was that?” Tara tried to find Danielle in the crowd.
“Trouble. New woman, Sarah, and her girl of the evening, a transfer student named Kat,” Liz replied with a sigh, resting her elbows on the table. “It didn’t used to bother me. One night stands, I mean. I must be getting old. This is the semester’s third dance, and Kat’s her fourth girl – that I know of. Her second time with Kat, I think. Pardon the crudeness, but she’s very much a member of the ‘fuck’em and leave’em’school.” Liz thought a moment, “Afterwards, well, she’s incredibly rude to her previous ‘date’ as you just saw. I think your friend Danielle was her second girl. And in spite of that scene just now, she still got a bit better treatment than the first one. Security found that one sobbing in an alley, but she wouldn’t say boo when questioned. I tried to talk with Danielle at the last dance, and you can see how well that went. She did something stupid, and on top of being dumped hard, was embarrassed. Tonight just makes that part worse.” Liz shrugged.
“Hmm … and being r-rejected so p-publicly probably makes it hurt even more.”
“Yeah,” Liz agreed. “You don’t know her well?”
Tara shook her head. “No, sh-she’s just in my Wicca group. First time w-we really spoke was tonight.”
“Okay, I’ll keep an eye on her. She’s been to the meetings, so I do have some info.” Liz nodded, plans clearly forming in her head.
Tara nodded, somewhat reassured, and looked away from Liz, searching the crowd for her next-door neighbor.
“Oh, your Jo’s here. Mei-Ling and her posse are making sure she has a good time, just like you asked. She’s a nice girl. Two left feet, but a nice girl.” Liz snickered, her good humor apparently returning.
“I take it you danced with her?” Tara asked with a grin.
“Oh, yeah.” Liz’s expression was rueful. “We’ve been keeping her to the medium to fast dances, which saved my feet a bit. Tori had the best idea, I think.”
“She w-wore her boots?” Tara’s eyes crinkled at the memory.
“Uh-huh.”
“I should go f-find her. Let her know I’m here. See you.” She nodded at Liz as she headed off.
“Later.”
Tara eeled her way towards the refreshments and smiled. The chips and pretzels were long gone, of course. She grabbed a bottle of water and pulled out her apple. Munching on it, she surveyed the crowd, finally spotting her neighbor dancing with Mei-Ling’s girlfriend, Tracy. She watched as Tracy adroitly steered Jo around the dance floor, dodging occasionally as Jo’s feet came down too close to hers. She deposited the core in the trash and licked the juice from her fingers.
“You should be careful doing that in public, especially in this crowd.” Tori’s voice came from her left.
Tara turned towards her, feeling her face heat, but refused to duck her head. “Hey, sweetie.” She accepted a quick hug.
“It’s been quite a while. The gossip I hear true? You’ve got a girlfriend? What’s her name, what does she look like, and why isn’t she here? Spill.” Tori crossed her arms and tapped her foot.
“Her n-name is Willow, she has red hair and green eyes, and she h-had a prior commitment t-tonight.” Tara smiled, aware that she was glowing with pleasure from just talking about Willow.
“Oh, you sweet thing. You’re head over heels!” Without asking, Tori snatched her bag from her shoulder and dropped it behind the refreshment table. “Sally, watch that, okay? C’mon. I get a dance, ’cause I told you this would happen.”
Tara laughed but let herself be led out among the dancers. The song had just changed, and was a lot slower, but Tori ignored convention as usual, and they danced apart or just touching hands while other dancers snuggled close. She’d forgotten how much fun it could be to dance with the short-haired woman.
“Okay, my turn,” Mei-Ling interrupted as the song ended. Tori ceded her immediately and the Asian woman spun her around to the beat of a faster song. “I’ve missed my favorite dance partner.”
Tara chuckled. “Your f-favorite after Tracy and Tori and Liz and any other available w-woman.”
“Not true.” Mei-Ling’s eyes sparkled. “So when do we meet her?”
“You just w-want to dance with her.”
“Of course I do. When?” Mei-Ling persisted.
“The next d-dance maybe?” Tara offered.
“Okay. You write it on your calendar. March 25. That’s the Saturday after your Wiccan thing. I made sure there was no conflict for that dance, even though having the full moon for the walk home would have been romantic.”
“I’ll t-try. She m-may not w-want to,” Tara hedged.
“Then you tell her she has a choice. She comes to the dance or the dance comes to her. Okay?”
Tara smiled in reply. Arguing with Mei-Ling was futile, but sometimes changing the subject worked. “So, h-how is my neighbor?”
Mei-Ling laughed. “Two left feet. And yes, I think you’ll get a toaster oven for her. Now pay attention, this is a new move. You learn it from me and you can teach it to your girlfriend at the end of the month, okay?”
Tara sighed in resignation and nodded.
****
Sometimes it was so easy. Sarah pulled Kat into the shadows for another series of kisses and some heavy petting.
“Ohhhh, Sarah, please. Let’s just go back to my room,” Kat begged.
She smiled, pleased by the girl’s eagerness. Sometimes she would go with them, when she was in the mood to play. That was fun – taking a girl repeatedly over the course of a weekend. But Kat would never be a toy, not with her past history with her – not with how they’d spent the hours after the Valentine’s dance. Kat was merely dinner.
She’d been surprised to see her most recent toy at tonight’s dance. The stricken look on the girl’s face when she’d seen her with Kat had been … delicious. That one had been quite enjoyable.
Her hands roamed over Kat’s body as she tongued her mouth. She did try not to take the same girl twice, but tonight it was this one for a second time or risk not having one at all. Her first choice turned out to have a date for the night. The second one – she would have been perfect. New, knowing no one at all, but she’d been wearing a cross. She snarled inwardly at the memory of it.
So she resorted to taking this silly girl a second time, just so she could eat. She pressed the girl up against the wall and kissed her thoroughly, running her hands up under the cat sweatshirt as she did so.
“But you like that, don’t you? You want it.”
“Yessss,” the girl hissed, partly in pleasure and partly due to the coldness of her hands. She moaned as Sarah played with her nipples.
“I’m gonna do you, kitty-Kat. Going to do you here, just like I did before.”
Sarah heard the woman whimper and dropped her mouth to Kat’s neck, kissing it until she found one of the scars she’d left the first time. Morphing, she bit hard and was rewarded by the girl’s arms pulling her close. Here was as good a place as any. She pressed her leg against the girl’s crotch and let her ride it as she fed and bit and fed again.
She was a careful feeder. She’d take what she needed and a little bit more to incapacitate the girl. The weather was warm enough in Southern California that there was never a risk of hypothermia when she left them. So Kat would wake up sometime tomorrow, bruised and well-used. And that would be it. There would not be a third time with this one even if she had to go hungry.
She heard the noise behind her and was ducking even as she shoved her victim away. The clawed hand that would have decapitated her missed completely.
Well, it missed her, at least.
It slammed full force into Kat’s face and neck as Sarah scrambled hastily out of the monster’s way. She hadn’t lived for over a century by getting between something and its dinner.
She licked Kat’s blood from her arm as she watched the monster from the shadows. Damn, she’d have to leave Sunnydale now. Too many people had seen the girl leave with her. The monster was very quick, and very thorough. She doubted it would leave much, but it wasn’t likely that it would eat the girl’s wallet. Cash would make leaving easier, and a new ID would be useful too. She crouched down to wait, patient.
****
“H-Having fun?”
Jo glanced at Tara, who had finally escaped from the dance floor and retrieved her bag. Flushed, happy – no, radiant was a better word – Tara was almost bouncing as she stood beside her.
“Yeah, I am,” she replied. “There’s no pressure, just fun.”
“Uh-huh.” Tara nodded in agreement. “So, h-have you asked anyone to dance?”
“No, not yet.”
“See anyone you m-might like to ask?” Tara hinted, a lopsided grin tugging at her lips.
“Well, maybe a few. Like, uh, her.” Jo pointed towards a tallish brunette.
“Oh.” Tara’s brow furrowed momentarily and then her grin widened. “She’s in my W-Wicca group. Her name is Danielle. You should go ask her.”
“You think so? What if she turns me down?”
“Relax. You w-won’t know unless you ask.” Tara nudged her with an elbow.
“I guess you’re right.” She started off, then turned back. “Should I tell her I can’t dance very well?”
“Go. Relax.” Tara waved her in Danielle’s direction.
Jo tried to walk smoothly over to the brown-haired woman and somehow only tripped once.
“Hey.” She found herself gazing into a pair of brown eyes. “Uh, I was, uh, wondering if you’d like to dance?”
“Why?” There was an edge of anger and a fair amount of hurt in the soft voice. “Did Tara send you over?”
“Uh, no and yes. I wanted to come over, and she said I should?” Jo ended the statement as a question because now she really wasn’t certain that she should have.
“Oh. Why?”
“Why what?” Jo was getting a little annoyed. This was like any number of conversations she’d had this week with Willow – all snarky, all the time. Maybe she liked snarky women – ooh, now that was a scary thought. She took a deep breath. “Look, let’s start over.” She paused. “Hi, my name is Jo. I think you’re cute and I want to dance with you.” She held out her hand.
“Oh.” The brown eyes glanced down at her hand. After a moment, she reached out and took it. “My name is Danielle.”
“Dani or just Danielle?” Jo cautiously led her to the dance floor.
“Mostly Danielle.”
Jo tried to find the beat. “Uh, I should warn you, “Mostly Danielle”, that I’m not very good at this. You might want to watch your feet.”
Her partner smiled slightly. “Oh, you can call me Dani, if you want. That’s better than “Mostly Danielle” – and I think you’re doing fine.”
“That’s ’cause you haven’t had me dance on your feet yet.” Again the smile, which Jo was finding more and more attractive. She should do that more often, she thought. The music trailed off into something much slower and she came to a stop.
Brown eyes held hers. “Stay?”
“Uh, I haven’t danced slow yet,” Jo apologized.
“Stay. I’ll show you how.” A hand reached for hers.
Soft, warm, it pulled her into an embrace that was even softer. Jo felt her heart climb up into her throat as Dani positioned their hands, adjusting their embrace. It felt … wonderful.
“Jo, breathing helps.”
****
Tara stood near the doorway, watching her neighbor slow dance with a woman for the very first time. Willow. She closed her eyes and imagined how it would be to sway that way with Willow.
“Yep, you just got yourself a toaster oven,” Liz commented, grinning broadly. “And you should go to your girlfriend. I’ll keep an eye on her. On both of them.”
She laughed softly. “Well, I really sh-should go.”
“Be careful, okay?” Liz admonished.
Tara nodded and left. She glanced at her watch. Almost midnight. It might be too late to call Willow. She bit her lip as she thought about it; maybe it wouldn’t be if she hurried. She ran up the steps two at a time.
She left Collins with a group of students, but quickly outpaced them. She ran-walked the entire distance to her dorm. Dashing down the hall, she arrived at her room out of breath.
She swung the door open and stopped in her tracks.
“Willow!”
“Uh – Surprise?” Her lover was just dropping her coat into the chair. “This is okay, isn’t it?”
“Oh, yes!”
And how she rejected that girl but made it easier by making sure she wasn't lonely at the dance. Nice lesbians! 
by xita » Mon Nov 04, 2002 9:10 pm 
I loved how Tara subtely brought up having a gf but still wants to let the other girl down gently. Thanks for giving us so many new characters to get involved in and care about 
Great update, Mel! LOVED the Jo bits. Heh. It was great seeing the others at the dance wanting to loosen her up and help her at her first dance. 
It's a curse.
Sleek 
Thanks.
Thanks again.
. I feel that if distracted is a good thing, then delightfully distracted must be better. Thanks for reading.
