tamingthemuse | Prompt #150 - Taciturn - Anticipation - spikesdeb

Title: Anticipation
Prompt: Taciturn
Warnings: Allusion to f/f slash, nothing racy
Rating: PG
Summary: Set during Hush; Willow finds the Wicca group a washout, but something - or someone - has caught her eye. Why is that, exactly?
Disclaimer : None of the characters are mine, sadly. No profit is made from this story, save for the pleasure of writing. Unbeta'd so please forgive any errors and a gentle pointing out will get them fixed. Thank you.
Word Count : 568

Willow sat at the edge of the gathering, hoping against hope that this meeting the campus Wicca Group would actually discuss, or maybe even perform, some magic. So far there'd been mention of women power shrines, a bake-sale and her suggestion that they could perhaps try some spells had been shot down and she'd been accused of sucking the energy from the group. Fly around on broomsticks! As if that would really happen – translocation was the thing, not an antiquated broomstick cliché.

The shy girl caught her eye, though. There was something about her, the way she held herself and seemed to see everything without drawing anybody's attention. And now she was speaking up – no, she'd lost her nerve. Her hair quickly hid her face as she shook off the invitation to speak. At least Willow now knew her name: Tara. Pretty. Where had that thought come from?

Willow was momentarily flustered, but when the discussion focused once more on the eagerly anticipated bacchanal, she slumped back into a trance and waited for the interminable droning to end.

It was a relief to escape and catch up with Buffy. Buffy was being supporto-girl right now and seemed really interested in what Willow was doing with her magic. It made a change, as lately Buffy had been all wrapped up in Riley this and Riley that. It had been hard for Willow to be around her as Buffy got closer and closer to the normal relationship she'd yearned for. It all just underlined for her how lonely it had been since Oz left. Oz, the centre of her life, who'd found her lacking and moved on to a murderous she-wolf. Way to make a girl feel inadequate. She'd thought she'd never recover from the betrayal, even more so when her former boyfriend sent for his things without even a passing hello for her.

Maybe that was why she'd felt a little flutter of interest when Tara kept darting shy glances her way. Once or twice Willow had caught her staring at her and had smiled, which made Tara enchantingly flustered. It was probably just nice to be noticed, Willow thought, and that was all there was to it.

It wasn't like she was gay, or anything...

But still, the image of Tara's huge eyes fixed on her stayed with her.

Later that night, Willow was musing on why she couldn't get Tara out of her head. It was clear that she was different from the other members of the group, and Willow was sure that Tara would be more than happy to give magic a go. She hadn't blanched when Willow mentioned spells, and had almost spoken up in support. And she had a sweet smile and gentle manner that drew Willow to her. As a friend, obviously. Nothing more. Tara's taciturn nature made her attractive because she was like a female Oz, Willow thought. That must be it.

Still, the dreams that had Willow writhing in her sleep were definitely not brought about by friendship, not even close. She was flushed, her heart pounding, when she awoke, the tingles of satisfaction ebbing away as she recalled the imagined taste of Tara's soft lips on hers. Blushing and turning away from Buffy's sleeping form in the opposite bed, Willow closed her eyes and smiled as she realised she was suddenly eagerly awaiting the next Wicca meeting.