Tara giggles slightly at Faith and Cordelia snarking back and forth at each other. Glancing up she sees Fred trying not to grin. "Are they always like this?" Tara questions quietly to Fred.
"Oh, you wouldn't believe how much they go on and on. Just watch when they really get going. I usually go hide in my room." Fred nervously bounces in her seat.
Faith glances between the two women, giving up on irritating Cordy, for the moment. "Did you get enough to eat? Want anything else?"
"I'm fine." Tara smiles slightly looking down at her plate. Realizing she had actually eaten the majority of the food. Something she hadn't been doing with any regularity lately.
Fred shakes and looks around nervously. "I'm going to go back upstairs." She jumps up hurrying out of the room.
Cordelia sighs quietly. "Don't pay any attention to Fred. We're lucky she's even spending any time down here with us. Up till a few days ago we couldn't even get her to come out of her room. Now she's up to spending maybe a couple hours total a day down here."
"Yeah, haven't been able to get her out of the hotel yet." Faith adds quietly, grabbing up the empty containers and throwing them in the trash. "You tired?" Faith questions Tara.
"No. Not really." Tara shakes her head looking up at the slayer.
"Wanna look at the kitchen? I could show you so maybe you can see if there's anything you need." Faith offers.
Cordelia looks at the slayer with a surprised look. Faith was actually being pleasant. Shaking her head at the thought, she almost chuckles. "Well, I'm going home. Dennis is probably getting worried."
Tara looks up at Cordelia. "Dennis?"
"Yeah, my resident ghost. He's a sweetie." Cordelia smiles at Tara. "I think you and I might actually get along. Unlike some people." Cordelia snarls her nose up, looking at Faith.
"You love me and you know it." Faith smirks at the ex-cheerleader.
"In your dreams." Cordelia snarks as she leaves the room.
Faith grins, watching Cordy leave the room.
Tara shakes her head slightly at the two women. "Do you two even try to be civil to each other?"
Faith looks at her with a raised eyebrow. "What's the fun in that?"
With a shake of her head and a small quirking of her lip, Tara stands up. "I guess none. If you wouldn't mind showing me the kitchen, I'd appreciate it."
Faith nods, standing up and heading out of the break room.
Tara follows the slayer, glancing over the strong, compact body. Shaking her head at the sudden feeling of longing working through her, Tara looks at the hotel. "This hotel is quite beautiful."
Faith slows down, looking at the ornate fixtures and scrollwork. "I guess."
Tara tries to hold back a smile at the obvious lack of interest coming from the slayer. "This must have been absolutely gorgeous back in it's day. If you care about that kind of thing." Tara chuckles quietly when she hears a grunt come from the slayer.
"Oh, wow." Tara looks around as they walk into the kitchen, seeing the stainless steel appliances still looking almost brand new, if a bit dirty. Seeing the pots and pans hanging over the prep table she grins before digging through the drawers and cabinets, seeing all the utensils they would ever need. Opening the refrigerators and walk-ins she frowns slightly at the musty smell.
Faith leans back against the prep table, watching Tara opening and closing the cabinets and drawers. Smirking slightly as she sees the witch's nose twitch at the smell coming from the fridges. As Tara finally takes a step back with her hands on her hips looking at everything, Faith raises an eyebrow. "Well, what do you need?"
"Food and seasonings for the actual cooking. Everything needs a good scrubbing and disinfecting." Tara glances down at her clothes frowning slightly. "I'm going to need to change into some old clothes. I might as well get a start on it tonight." Looking up at the slayer, Tara smiles crookedly. "Can you point me in the direction of the cleaning supplies?"
Faith shakes her head in disbelief. "You're planning on starting to clean this up tonight? It's like 9:00."
Tara shrugs her shoulders and grins. "I don't have anything better to do."
Faith's mouth twitches slightly, looking at the blonde. "Come on." Faith quickly heads out of the kitchen. Glancing beside her as the witch keeps pace with her, she has the urge to laugh. "Go ahead and get changed. I'll get the supplies together. Meet you back in the kitchen." Faith heads off down another hallway, leaving Tara standing there in surprise.
"Is that an offer of help?" Tara whispers, watching the slayer as she turns out of sight. Quickly heading upstairs, Tara changes from her long flowing skirt and long sleeved shirt to an old pair of cargo pants and t-shirt. Looking down she's surprised to see how baggy they've become. "Hmm. Must have lost more weight than I realized." Pulling her hair back with a rubber band into a loose pony tail, she heads back to the kitchen.
Tara stops in surprise, seeing the slayer standing in front of one of the big double refrigerators scrubbing away. Seeing the slayer wearing an old, holy tank top and jeans that looks like they should have been thrown away about 50 washings ago, Tara inhales silently. Closing her eyes, trying to get the image out of her mind, she walks over and grabs the dish detergent and heads towards the sink. Running the water in the huge sink, Tara squirts a good dollop of detergent in it before turning to Faith, while the sink fills.
"You know you don't have to help." Tara tilts her head, watching the slayer lean down, rinsing the rag out before glancing her way.
"You going to do it all by yourself?" Faith questions with a raised eyebrow. "Figured you wouldn't mind the help." Faith quickly leans back into the fridge, scrubbing the inside with the bleach water to cut through the musty smell and the small amount of mildew that had been gathering. Stopping for a moment, Faith glances back at the witch. "Did you not want help?"
Tara looks up from where she's scrubbing one of the pots. "No, I appreciate the help. I wouldn't even mind just the company while I clean. Kind of missed having people around the last couple months."
Faith eyes the witch for a minute, really looking at her, noticing how the clothes seemed to hang from her. Trying to remember what the woman looked like before, Faith seems to remember soft feminine curves, not the skinny woman in front of her. Wondering what made such a drastic difference in the witch, Faith narrows her eyes slightly.
Tara feels Faith's eyes still on her and she glances back at the slayer, seeing her look at her with narrowed eyes. "Something wrong?"
"What happened?" Faith bluntly asks, dropping the rag in the bucket and leaning against the refrigerator.
"Excuse me?" Tara looks at the slayer in shock.
"What happened to make you come here?" Faith looks her up and down before looking in her eyes. "Why does it look like you lost some serious weight, that if I remember correctly, is a damn shame that you've lost?"
Tara blushes slightly at the last, before glancing down at the sink. Quietly contemplating whether or not to talk to the slayer.
"Never mind, ain't none of my business no-how." Faith grunts out quietly, before turning back to finish cleaning the refrigerator. "Should I leave this open to air out? Think that might help?"
Tara sighs quietly. Turning to make eye contact with Faith, she nods her head. "Yes, it would probably help, letting it dry completely." Looking searchingly into the closed off face of the slayer, Tara glances down to the floor.
"You know, W-willow and I were a couple." Looking up she sees the slayer nod. Smiling slightly, Tara looks up towards the ceiling. "I think you were the first one to realize. When they fought Glory, she delved into dark magic to get back my mind. Anyway, I'm sure you know Buffy died during the fight with Glory, Willow brought her back. To do that she used dark magic, again." At Faith's questioning glance Tara shakes her head. "It's bad. Opens yourself to evil forces, it can consume you. It's almost addictive like a drug." Tara walks over and hops up onto the prep table. "She started using magic for everything, laundry, cleaning, research." Shaking her head, she looks down and picks at her pants. "I tried to talk to her about the magic. I'm assuming we must have had an argument, who knows what happened, but it was probably about the magic, anyhow she did a memory spell on me." Hearing Faith inhale deeply, Tara looks up seeing the compassion in the woman's eyes and smiles slightly. "Needless to say, after I found out later, I almost left. She begged me to stay and promised she wouldn't do anymore magic." Feeling a tear start to slide down her face, she quickly wipes it away. "She promised me to go one week without a spell. She lasted roughly 12 hours. She did another memory spell, fortunately this time it backfired. Everyone's memory got wiped and finally the crystal she used got broken, returning our memory's to us. I left her that night."
Faith watches the witch intently, thinking about what she said. "Sounds almost like rape." Faith growls out quietly. When Tara's head jerks up looking at her in surprise, Faith shrugs her shoulders. "Well it is. She took from you without your permission. You weren't given a choice. Can I ask you something?" At Tara's slight nod Faith frowns. "You said something about getting your mind back, what'd you mean?"
Tara frowns slightly, before clasping her hands tightly in front of her. Thinking too much about this, always gives her nightmares. "Glory, Hell Goddess, sucked brains to maintain her own so-called sanity. Needless to say, I was in the wrong place at the wrong time." Looking down at her right hand, running her fingers over the crooked index and middle fingers that didn't heal right from where Glory had crushed her hand. "I was insane for roughly six months. Willow found a spell in one of the books and as a last ditch effort to restore my sanity and weaken Glory, she tried it. Fortunately it worked. But I would have rather she left me insane than to have dealt in black magic."
Faith looks at the witch, shocked. "Why would you wanna stay insane?"
"It wasn't worth Willow possibly losing herself to the dark just to save me." Tara quietly states.
Faith watches in stunned disbelief as the woman hops back off the table and continues washing the dishes. Realizing this was the end of the talk, Faith frowns. Thinking over what the woman said, she realizes that she was very serious about the fact to save Red, she would have been willing to stay crazy. What the hell could be going through Willow's head to rape her girlfriends mind like she did? Faith doesn't even consider the fact that Tara could be lying. Her gut told her that everything the woman said was true. If anything she was possibly leaving the worst of it out.
"Should I clean out the walk-in freezer?" Faith questions quietly.
"It probably would be a good idea. That way we can stock up on meat and other items that are freezable when they're on sale." Tara glances up briefly, looking at the slayer as she grabs the bucket of bleach water heading towards the walk-in. "Thank you for your help, Faith."
Faith looks up and smiles slightly. "It serves my own self interest. Tired of eating pizza, burgers and Chinese food all the time." Grinning a little bigger she chuckles. "The sooner this place is cleaned, the sooner we start getting real meals."
"Hopefully the refrigerators and freezers work okay, after being off all this time." Tara contemplates the thought. "Maybe we should have someone come in and check them out, make sure they're running okay and don't need any work."
"Yeah, I'll check with Fang and see if he has some contact to come look at them." Faith opens the freezer door and heads in to scrub it clean.
***
Tara stretches as she wakes up, feeling her body ache from the scrubbing she had done the night before. Groaning, she smiles realizing she didn't have any nightmares and actually slept the night through. "Maybe there's something to be said for five hours of scrubbing pots and pans." Tara quietly chuckles, before easing her legs over the side of the bed and heading to the bathroom.
Heading down the stairs after taking a shower and getting dressed, she's surprised to see a green demon with horns and…red eyes? Seeing him talking to Angel, Tara realizes this must be the demon Lorne that Angel had mentioned the night before.
Angel looks up from where he's talking with Lorne and grins slightly as he watches Tara head towards them. Faith had already told him about them spending a good portion of the previous night scrubbing the kitchen. As a matter of fact, he had already contacted one of his acquaintances to come out and check the refrigerators and freezers. The Bonegi Demon that came to check them should be done anytime.
"Oooh, you didn't mention what a scrumptious morsel she was, Angel-cakes." Lorne giggles, before reaching for Tara's hand and kissing the top of it gallantly. "You, sweet cheeks, must be Tara. I'm Lorne, the Host of Caritas."
Tara blushes at the demons flirting, before smiling shyly. "Hi. And yes, I'm Tara."
"Oh, she's just precious. I want you to sing for me, sweet cheeks." Lorne smiles encouragingly at the witch.
"I-I don't think so." Tara shakes her head blushing even redder. "I'm not any g-good in crowd's."
Lorne looks around at the empty hotel. "There's only us three here, right now. Why don't you sing me a little number. I bet you have an absolute gorgeous voice to go along with the rest of you." Seeing that Tara is about to refuse again, Lorne looks at her pleadingly, batting his eyelashes. "Please? I can beg."
Tara giggles at the demon, before smiling softly. "What would you like me to sing?" She questions quietly.
"Whatever you would like." Lorne smiles encouragingly at the young witch. "Just not Barry Manilow." Lorne slides a sidewise glance at the vampire.
Tara chuckles quietly, catching the look Lorne slid Angel. Thinking for a moment, Tara gets a wicked smile on her face, before singing the Eagles 'Witchy Woman'.
Lorne chuckles as he hears her start the song, then his eyes widen as he listens and watches the witch intently. Swallowing hard at the clips of so many different images he sees, he takes a deep breath. As Tara finishes the song, he smiles and claps loudly. "Oh, Sweet Cheeks. You have definitely got to come to Caritas and sing on stage."
As Faith walks downstairs, she tries not to laugh at the song Tara has chosen to sing for Lorne. As she listens, she's surprised at how beautiful of a voice the woman has. Seeing Tara blush at Lorne's compliments, Faith fades into the background, not wanting her to feel more embarrassed. 'Why the hell do I care how she feels?' Faith wonders momentarily, before forgetting the thought and watches quietly.
"I don't know about that." Tara looks down, shaking her head slightly while blushing.
"Oh, honey. You definitely should come. Maybe you can talk Faith-y into singing for us again. I would love to hear her doing a Bonnie Raitt song." Lorne shivers slightly to that thought. "Oooh. Just thinking about it makes me all tingly."
Tara giggles watching the demon. "I don't know about that. But I would like to hear her sing."
"Absolutely to die for." Lorne grins. "Angel-cakes can I speak with you for a moment?"
Angel nods his head and smiles slightly at the witch. "I'll be right back. Don't go anywhere, I was wanting to talk to you."
"Okay." Tara nods her head, wondering slightly what's going on. Walking towards the front door, she looks outside, smiling at the sunny day.
***
"So, what did you see that you had to drag me in here to talk about it?" Angel gets right to the point.
"Angel-cakes it isn't that easy with this one." Lorne shakes his head looking at the vampire as he sits down. "There's too many variables. Each thing she does it changes things. I saw no less than ten different futures while she was singing, all depending on the choices she makes." Lorne turns a paler green. "And I think I saw a future that would have happened if she hadn't come to LA. Not pretty."
Angel leans back in his chair, looking upon the demon broodingly. "So it's pretty much a crap-shoot."
Lorne nods his head and smiles apologetically. "I can give you this much, she's going to do a lot of good. You having her come here, is the right decision, no matter what."
Angel nods his head in acceptance of that peace of mind. "Thanks Lorne."
Lorne stands and smiles slightly. "Do your best to get that beauty down to Caritas. If we can get her to sing regularly, I'd be willing to pay!" Chuckling, he hums Witchy Woman as he leaves.
***
Faith quietly watches Tara standing at the front doors, looking out upon the day. Slowly walking towards her, she smiles slightly, realizing for the first time how beautiful the woman actually was. "I was gonna fix myself some coffee, you want something?" Faith quietly asks the question, and frowns as she sees Tara jump slightly.
Tara turns and smiles softly at the slayer. "Thank you. I wouldn't mind a cup of tea." Walking towards the slayer, Tara shakes off the feeling that Faith was checking her out. Knowing there was no way the slayer would even remotely be interested in her.
Both women walk into the break room, Tara clicks on the kettle while getting down a couple mugs, handing one silently to Faith while looking through the tea bags before grabbing a Chamomile out and placing it in her mug.
Quickly adding the water after the kettle clicks off, Tara smiles slightly as she watches Faith add three sugars to her black instant coffee. Before sitting down across from her.
Faith looks up as Gunn enters with a couple boxes of donuts.
Gunn smiles at the new recruit and nods towards Faith. "I know pretty much what everyone else around here eats, but I didn't have a clue about you, Tara. So I got a mix." Gently setting the boxes down, he sits down beside the woman.
"I'm not picky." Tara shakes her head, smiling shyly at Gunn.
Standing up, Gunn grabs down some plates, handing one to Tara while putting the rest in the middle of the table. Sitting back down he smiles as he watches the woman pick out a cream filled donut. "Oh, here." Gunn reaches over and grabs her a napkin. "You might need this."
Faith rolls her eyes, watching Gunn flirting with Tara. Wondering if she should give the guy a clue or just watch the show.
Tara smiles before whispering. "Thank you, Charles." Gently taking the napkin away from him, she spreads it across her lap and delicately tears a piece off her donut before eating it. Glancing up she sees Faith smirking slightly and wonders why.
Faith tilts the chair onto the two back legs until she's leaning against the wall behind her, sipping on her coffee. Watching Tara eat her donut, and the way Gunn was watching the witch, Faith chuckles quietly.
Tara raises an eyebrow as Faith chuckles. "Is there something here that amuses you?"
Faith actually laughs. "Yes, there is." Faith admits with a twinkle in her eye, watching Tara intently.
"Care to share with us?" Tara tilts her head questioningly.
"Nope. Not right now anyways." Faith shakes her head chuckling. The blonde has no clue.
Everyone turns as Angel walks into the room. He nods his head and then looks questioningly at the smirking slayer. Deciding to ignore the woman for now he smiles at Tara. "I just had the refrigerators and freezers looked at downstairs. They have been charged and checked out. He said give them twelve hours and they should be cold and ready to go." Tilting his head, he appraises the witch quietly. "I heard you spent a good portion of last night and early this morning cleaning in the kitchen."
Tara looks towards Faith questioningly. Just seeing a raised eyebrow in response she grins slightly. "Well I wasn't the only one. Faith scrubbed down all the refrigerators and freezers."
"Yes, and that's surprising in and of itself." Angel mutters imperceptibly. Thinking how the woman never voluntarily spent time with anyone unless it was to try and piss them off.
Faith frowns at the vampire, before tilting forward on her chair and placing her cup in the sink. Grabbing a donut she heads out the door.
Tara watches in surprise as Faith walks out the door.
"Ignore Faith. She gets a little testy occasionally." Gunn smiles at Tara. "Well, I guess that means tomorrow morning we need to go grocery shopping. I'd be happy to take you."
Tara nods her head and quirks her mouth slightly. "I can make a list of the items we need."
Angel watches Tara quietly, before speaking up. "Just let me know before you leave and I'll give you the money to go to the store. If you go by my butcher shop, he'll probably give you a good price on meat."
"Do you need me to pick up blood?" Tara quietly offers.
Angel looks up in surprise. "You wouldn't mind?"
Tara shakes her head and smirks slightly. "Wouldn't be the first time I've bought blood from a butcher's shop. Just let me know how much you want me to get while I'm there." Looking around, Tara smiles apologetically. "Do you have a notepad and pen I can borrow to make a list on. I actually wouldn't mind talking to everyone to see what their preferences food wise are."
"This group isn't real particular. They seem to eat everything with equal gusto." Angel smirks slightly. "Come with me and I'll get you a pad and pen."
Tara stands up to follow Angel out of the room stopping at the doorway, turning to look at Gunn she smiles slightly. "I would appreciate you helping me shop tomorrow."
"No problem." Gunn grins hugely watching her turn around and follow Angel. "No problem at all." He continues to himself.
***
Wes smiles as he watches Tara do the cleansing around the hotel. "I can already tell the difference in the energy."
Tara glances at the ex-watcher and smiles slightly. "I'll probably need to do it at least a few more times to dispel all the demonic energy. But I'm sure, given time, I'll be able to get rid of it."
"I can't tell you how much help you will be." Wes grins slightly as she finishes. "If you need anything, let me know."
"Thank you, Wesley." Tara smiles softly as she packs away the items she used. "Is there anything food wise that you like or don't like?" Tara glances up briefly making eye contact with the ex-watcher.
"No, I pretty much eat anything. Just don't much care for sauerkraut. Other than that I'm game." Wes watches as the woman picks up her bag of implements.
"Good. It looks like the majority of you guys aren't picky eaters." Tara looks around, seeing Faith sharpening a sword. "Thanks, Wesley."
Faith unconsciously sits down on one of the couch's that is in sight of what the witch is doing. Sharpening her sword, she glances up occasionally, watching the woman and Wes talk as she performed her spell.
Tara walks slowly towards the slayer, seeing Faith glance up briefly, Tara sits down beside the woman. "I haven't seen you since this morning." Tara quietly starts.
Faith glances briefly at the witch before looking back down as she runs the whetstone across the blade.
"Is there anything you particularly like to eat, or maybe don't like?" Tara continues.
Shrugging her shoulders almost imperceptibly, Faith grunts non-commitally.
Tara sighs quietly. "Did I do something to make you mad this morning?"
Faith jerks her head up, looking at the downcast features of the blonde. "What would make you think that?"
"Just that after I made the comment that you helped out in the kitchen, you disappeared." Tara quietly comments on it as she understands what happened.
"Wasn't you." Faith looks back at the sword. Testing the sharpness with a thumb, she sets it down with the stone beside it. "I like just about anything." Faith offers quietly.
"Anything in particular that you like?" Tara questions, tilting her head slightly to watch the slayer.
"There was this place in Philly I came across that made great cheese steak subs. Steak, grilled onions, mushrooms and cheese piled high on this toasted sub roll that you couldn't open your mouth wide enough to get in." Chuckling quietly Faith looks out upon the quiet hotel lobby. "Half the toppings would slide out from between the bread before you finished eating it."
"Sounds good." Tara murmurs.
"It was." Faith smiles slightly. Quickly standing, Faith grabs her sword and stone, glancing at the witch. "Need anymore help in the kitchen?" Faith offers.
"I got all the pots, pans and skillets washed last night along with the plates. I need to go back down and work on the bowls, cups, glasses and silverware." Tara curiously looks at the slayer.
Looking down at her feet before glancing back up, Faith quirks her lips slightly. "Want help?"
"I won't turn it down." Tara smiles thankfully at the slayer. Looking down at her hands she giggles slightly. "I'm going to have dish-pan hands before I finish."
Faith glances down at the woman's hands, noticing for the first time her crooked index and middle finger on her right hand. Frowning, wondering what caused it, Faith starts to open her mouth before clicking it shut hard. Realizing it isn't any of her business and if the woman wanted to tell her, she would. "I can wash, if you want." Faith nods her head towards the witch. "I'll meet you down there in a few." Faith turns on her heel, heading up the stairs.
Angel quietly watches the interaction between the two women, surprised at listening to Faith offer to help the witch. Wondering at how the slayer seems to be reaching out to Tara. Deciding to keep an eye on them and see how she acts, Angel quietly slips back into his office.
***
Faith reaches the kitchen first, bringing her boom box with her. She plugs it in, setting it out of the way and drops the stack of cd's beside it. Flipping it on, she grins as Seether comes over the speakers. Realizing the witch probably liked something softer, she figured she'd enjoy it while she has the chance. Starting the dish water, Faith glances around grabbing a handful of dishes that needs to be washed. Gently setting them down in the hot water, Faith grabs another handful, unconsciously singing along with the song Gasoline.
Tara chuckles, watching Faith as she bumps and grinds singing along with Seether. Walking in, Tara throws the extra towels she brought down to dry the dishes with on the prep table.
Faith stops singing when she realizes Tara is behind her. "You can change the CD if you want. Or put the radio on." Faith offers quietly.
"I like Seether." Tara grins at Faith. "And you don't have to stop singing on my account."
Faith blushes slightly, and turns away. "I would have taken you more for ballads or soft instrumental shit."
Tara chuckles quietly. "People always assume that. I listen to pretty much everything. Seether, Kid Rock, Aerosmith, some bands most people haven't ever heard of. Country, blues, rap, you name it. And even ballads and soft instrumental shit, occasionally."
Tara tacks on the last with a sideways glance at the slayer.
Smiling and glancing at the witch, Faith smirks slightly. "If you promise not to pick on me about my singin'. If you plan on pickin' on me put country or some shit on that I don't know."
Tara chuckles loudly. "Deal. As long as you promise not to pick on me, either."
Faith nods her head, actually smiling fully for the first time in appreciation. "You got a deal."
Tara blinks in surprise at the dimples flashing as Faith smiles. Smiling in return Tara nods. "Deal."
As the women relax, they both slowly start singing along with the CD's while they wash the dishes. Before long they're singing loudly along with the music. Occasionally laughter rings out as they change the CD and become more comfortable with each other.
Angel hears the music and the two women singing with his enhanced hearing, walking slowly closer he stops at the top of the stairs and chuckles as the two women obviously are now just belting out the words, not even trying to actually sing. Shaking his head at hearing Faith laughing, he smiles. "Yes, obviously good things are going to happen." Angel whispers quietly, before heading back to his office.
