taxonomites | [Location | Tamper and Trick, Central Taxon] Opening Day

As may have been evidenced by her frequent trips in and around the center of Taxon, Tara has been quite busy recently. And though it’s served the secondary purpose of distracting her from the unwelcome news she received from Kyra, she’s found a great deal of satisfaction in slowly transforming the empty shop into something to be proud of.

The shelves are now full of various hatched items, ingredients and books, including a few items enchanted by Tara and Ethan themselves. Most tend toward healing and protection, though there are no guarantees that one couldn’t find other things as well (especially if one asked Ethan very nicely). There’s a decent book selection, and dried herbs from the window garden Tara’s growing in the back. Behind the counter, there are gift wrapping supplies, along with some of the more powerful items.

Though she’s not much for tooting her own horn, Sam and Buffy at least know what she’s been working on. And Tara feels that they should do something to celebrate opening, even if it’s something quiet. Balloons and cake, perhaps, like it’s the shop’s birthday. Even if no one comes, though, it will do little to dampen her mood; it feels like one of the first things she’s done in Taxon, maybe in her life, that’s really come together.

She has enough things to worry about, but for this afternoon, she’s taking a break.

Also taking a break - from worrying about when this will end, from thinking about the other world that really sounds terrible, from wondering what Anya would think of the new shop - is Ethan, who discreetly added 'marijuana' to the, er, herbs on offer at Tamper and Trick. He's making tea in the backroom, presently, but he even put on a nice silk shirt (dark purple) for the occasion and he is taking it appropriately seriously-

"It's just not as satisfying when you can't play with the money," he says, bringing two cups out to Tara.

(Sort of seriously.)

The shop is open, so drop by. Curious strangers are also fine.

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DG struggled to resist the urge to reach out and touch one. She settled, instead, for examining the display of herbs nearby.

"You'll have a lot of customers." Taxon's population seemed to be made up of people who would, in another time and another place, be considered the stuff of fiction. (Her world had been so small in Kansas. Magic - even her own magic - had been nothing but an impossibility.) "Ethan? Is he a ..." She paused, briefly, to select the right word. "... wizard, I guess?"

"Not... exactly, I don't think. He does some magic, though, so I suppose it depends on how you define it." Ah, the confusing semantics of magic in the Buffyverse.

"It's pretty sexist to assume that he's a wizard just because he's a he," DG noted. She didn't understand the semantics in her own world, let alone in someone else's. "He can still be a witch."

"No - witches, in my world at least, are usually women. But people do magic without being witches. It's... Wicca is a certain way of viewing the world, and magic. A popular way, and usually a pretty effective one, but not the only by any means." She adds, shyly, "So if you... if you disagree with what I teach you, ever, it doesn't mean you're wrong, you know. Your magic could work different than I'm used to, or... we can always do more research, too."

"I think they're usually evil in mine." She'd heard Azkadellia referred to as a sorceress or a witch, but her mother, who had once been the most powerful magical being in the O.Z, hadn't been given that sort of title. DG had picked up the name from conversations with Tara and Piper.

"I'll remember that. I'm just glad I've got someone to teach me at all."

She'd been in Taxon for months and there was still no sign of Tutor. Until she'd met Tara, she'd all but given up hope of learning to master her magic properly.

She smiles some. "You'll get it. It's hardest, when you're just starting out, especially if you have no one else to talk to. It's why I hear about powerful witches, the ones who get really talented, making covens. So they can help and support each other."

"Are three people enough for a coven?"

It was a genuine question, no matter how lightly she asked it. Tara's help had been invaluable to her. She liked the idea of not only continuing it, but also sharing it with other people that needed help. Whenever they arrived.

(Maybe they'd be strong enough to stop the witch if the hamsters decided to return her to the city.)

"That's an idea," she says. "And I was thinking of having you and Piper train together sometimes anyway, sometime soon."

"Really?" DG, turning away from the herbs at last, clearly liked that idea, but she was also a little nervous. She hadn't spoken to Piper since her glitch. "Do you think she'd mind?"

"I don't think it can hurt to ask. And I'll ask Dawn, too - I don't know if she'd be interested, but she may be more experienced than me, in some ways, now." Which is really weird, but she's also oddly proud of this older Dawn.

"Dawn?" DG queried, raising an eyebrow. She knew Buffy - or of Buffy, thanks to her friendship with Glitch - but she wasn't familiar with her younger sister. The news that there was another potential witch in the area was exciting, though, particularly since Tara appeared to trust her.

"Oh! Yes, Dawn Summers. She's a friend of mine from home, but from my future. She does some magic now. I don't know if she'd be interested, but I can ask."

"That must get confusing." She was lucky, really, that she and Glitch had arrived from the same period of time. DG wasn't sure how she'd react to an earlier version of someone she cared about. (She couldn't even be sure that there would be a later one.) "Sounds good."

"Yeah, a little bit. I think most of my friends come from around the same time, just later than me." Of course, there's a reason for that, or at least why the version of her from their time wouldn't exist. Still, she says, "So, I'll ask Piper, if you like, and Dawn."

DG realised that particular reason a fraction of a second after she had spoken. She regreted her words immediately, but, fortunately, Tara seemed to take it in her stride It was too late to bite her tongue. All DG could do was admire Tara's impressive composure.

"That'd be great."

Tara smiles, to show everything's fine. "Okay. Say hi to Glitch for me in the meantime, okay? I've been busy with the shop opening, but once things settle down, I'll try and come visit."

"I will do," DG assured her. Her own smile was one of relief. "You're welcome to visit whenever you want."

She glanced around the shop.

"I guess I should leave you to finish setting up?"

"Probably for now. But come back soon, okay?"

"I will," said DG, with a bright grin. Before leaving, she took a step forward to give Tara a quick hug.

Tara returns the hug warmly. "Thanks for stopping in."

[Location | Tamper and Trick, Central Taxon] Opening Day

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