[Location: Café] Happy Birthday (open)

[aworldenchanted]

Tara sat at a café in Wilde, not far from Tamper and Trick, warming her hands with a chai latte. There was a bit of a chill in the air, but the sun was peeking through the clouds, and with a jacket, being out was nice enough.

She thought about the sun. With the influx of new visitors recently, she'd been thinking more about how Taxon worked, about how this strange half-life could be settled into. How easy it as for her to slip into work at Tamper and Trick, which wasn't quite the Magic Box, dates with Willow, who was a few months away from being her Willow, and living in Castle Summers, which was familiar to her friends, but not to her. How easy it became to ignore the Extras, to weather a glitch, to take it for granted.

She thought about people who'd gone and come back. The Doctor. Stefan. The Master. She wondered if she'd been before, and just forgotten. If Xander might come back, slate wiped clean. It didn't fit, exactly, with the zoo theory, but it didn't fit with the little glimpses they'd had of the 'real Taxon' either. Then again, if it was a glitch as she'd suspected, their captors had just turned Piper into a monster, so none of her working theories were right just yet.

She thought about the people she missed. Hercules. Rose. Sam. Giles. Ethan. Tara had to believe that the were home. Safe. Happy. She wanted to believe that so very badly.

It was her birthday. The first one she shouldn't have been alive to have. And that knowledge made it a little bittersweet.

She sipped her latte, and took a few moments. Then she'd head to the shop. Happy birthday to her.


[Open to new friends as well as old. Come say hi.]

Comments

[location: cafe]

[numbersnfigures.livejournal.com]

Spencer obviously didn't realize that it was Tara's birthday, but he did happen to be walking past the cafe that she was sitting outside of while on his way to the market.

He paused as he saw her, unsure of what to say. It had been a while since they had spoken.

"...H-how are you?"

[location: cafe]

[aworldenchanted]

She smiled warmly. "Oh, Dr. Reid! I'm good - I'm sorry, I meant to look you up a while ago, and then time got away from me. How have you been?"

[location: cafe]

[numbersnfigures.livejournal.com]

Spencer smiled shyly at her.

"I-I've been fine..... I'm just... going to the market... they have very fresh vegetables..."

He stood awkwardly behind the chair across the table from where she was sitting, not wanting to impose upon her.

[location: cafe]

[aworldenchanted]

"Oh. Well, I don't want to keep you, but... if you're not in any rush, you could join me?" She offers a gentle smile, clearly not going to be offended if he says no.

Re: [location: cafe]

[numbersnfigures.livejournal.com]

Spencer hesitated for a moment, then sat down. Tara's smile was very reassuring and genuine.

"I've uh.. been living in Shelley.. since I left the hotel.."

[location: cafe]

[slayersidekick]

Willow knew it was Tara's birthday and for a while now she'd been acting kind of suspiciously busy. Not that it was unusual for her to BE busy, but all the time? Even that was a little over the top for Willow. Still, her business was important this time. It usually was important back home, too, but this was really important!

This was for Tara's birthday and that made it very special.

Unfortunately, this particular birthday needed to be even more special than usual. Things had happened for Tara that hadn't happened for Willow and Tara had been in Taxon a lot longer than Willow had. How much had changed? Had her tastes changed? Of course, there was also the magic addiction thing Tara had warned her about. Normally, Willow might have come up with something geared more towards their shared interest in magic, but in the effort of not going down that road (again?), Willow opted for something much less magicy.

So, holding a package containing a couple of new outfits plus a pair of shoes and a pretty handmade card (see? no magic involved at all!), also dressed in a new outfit herself, Willow headed for Tamper and Trick. Purely by coincidence, she spoted her girlfriend sitting in a cafe and took a quick detour. Trying to hide the package behind her, and probably failing miserably, she approached with a wide grin.

"Tara!"

[location: cafe]

[aworldenchanted]

Willow's grin was infectous, and Tara couldn't help but return it. "Hey, you. Care to join me?"

[location: cafe]

[slayersidekick]

"I was hoping the big birthday girl wouldn't mind getting interrupted." With a sort of sneaky grin, Willow approached, waiting until the last minute to pull the package from behind her back and set it down on the table. Of course, she took care not to knock anything else off the table because that just wouldn't do at all.

"Happy birthday, Tara. I wanted to do something really special, but i-it's kinda hard to know what to do in a place like this. But I, uh, hope you like it."

The handmade card was placed on top and read:
Happy birthday, Tara! I hope today is filled with flowers and sunshine and maybe kittens, too, if we can find any like Miss Kitty Fantastico. I'm really glad things are working out so well with us and being here and you know I love you. You're my everything.

With love, Willow.

[location: cafe]

[aworldenchanted]

Tara read the card and, despite everything, there was no sadness in her smile. She leaned over to kiss Willow across the table. "Thank you. You didn't have to get me anything, you know. 'Being kidnapped by aliens' is a reasonable excuse."

Still, with a grin, she asked, "Can I go ahead and open it?"

[ location: café in wilde ]

[virtued.livejournal.com]

Stefan was, of course, unaware of the significance of the day. From his point of view, given that he couldn't remember anything from the first time he was apparently pulled into this place, he'd only just met her. He did recognize her, though, and made his way over to her table when he spotted her. He was in the café for no other reason than it being his latest stop on his quest to explore every inch of Taxon. If he was going to be stuck here, he might as well get to know the place better beyond the pieces of home that he and Damon had brought with them.

"Tara, right?"

[ location: café in wilde ]

[aworldenchanted]

"Hi - that's right." She smiled, almost shy; even before, they'd never been terribly close, but she was still glad to see him. "How are you settling in?"

[ location: café in wilde ]

[virtued.livejournal.com]

"As well as anyone who's been kidnapped by aliens can," he answered. "At least the alien overlords were kind enough to give me my house."

[ location: café in wilde ]

[aworldenchanted]

"That's something, at least. Is there... do you have anyone here, from home?" She found that made a big difference, generally.

[tothelightshown.livejournal.com]

If DG had realised that it was Tara's birthday, she'd have organised some sort of celebration. (Or, at the very least, hatched her friend a heartfelt gift and a sumptuous cake.) Because she was oblivious, however, she simply brought her bike to a stop when she happened to spot Tara sitting on her own in a cafe in Wilde.

"Hello," she said brightly, pulling off her helmet as she stepped inside

[aworldenchanted]

DG was one of the things about Taxon that had stayed consistently good, and Tara was always glad to see her. "Hey, DG. How are you?"

With a start, she realized their magic lessons had been on hold, recently. Between Willow coming to Taxon, and all the commotion with the Doctor and Piper's glitch, it had slipped through the cracks.

[tothelightshown.livejournal.com]

If asked, DG would have said exactly the same thing about Tara. She grinned as she sat down at the table and joined her.

"Good," she replied. "It's been quiet lately."

(Though she was still worried about how Piper's Wendigo glitch would affect her in the long term.)

As for magic lessons, DG wasn't entirely sure that she needed them any more. The mark on her palm had disappeared during her trip back to the O.Z. She had a better idea of what she was capable of than she ever had before. But her knowledge wasn't completely complete. Maybe it would be better to carry on?

[aworldenchanted]

"Yeah. You heard about Piper?" she asked, because if DG hadn't, she should. Tara wouldn't go spreading it generally, but she knew DG was as much Piper's friend as she was.

[ialwayscomeback.livejournal.com]

The Doctor grabbed the chair opposite, spinning it neatly on one leg and straddling it, resting his arms on the back and offering an easy-going smile to Tara.

"Hello, Tara! It's been a little while, hasn't it? How's life been treating you?"

[aworldenchanted]

She smiled to see him in good spirits and (apparently) good condition. "I'm alright, Doctor. How have you been?"


"Alright" is, perhaps, a little generous considering the Wendigo incident and her conversation with the Master, but it's true enough right at this moment.

[ialwayscomeback.livejournal.com]

"Oh, you know," he said casually. "Keeping busy." And definitely not starting to get frustrated with how he couldn't just leave whenever he felt like it.

"Had a friend turn up as well. Lovely girl, name of Amy Pond? She made me go house shopping with her. Never done that before."

[aworldenchanted]

"Oh, I met Amy! I showed her how to use the hatches. I'm glad you're the version of the Doctor she knows, that has to make it easier." She'd not known Fritz well, but well enough to see having the wrong Doctor was a little unsettling for him.

"Did you find a good house?"

[ location: cafe ]

[likeajoan.livejournal.com]

Buffy happened to be on her way to Tamper and Trick (not to buy anything in particular, but rather to hang out and be annoying) when she spotted Tara in the cafe, and immediately stopped walking. Diverting her path to the door of the cafe, she walked inside, bustling over to Tara's table.

"Room for one more?"

[ location: cafe ]

[aworldenchanted]

Tara smiled. "Of course. How've you been?" Though they technically live in the same place, Tara felt like it had been awhile since she and Buffy really saw each other in more than passing.

[ location: cafe ]

[likeajoan.livejournal.com]

If Buffy knew it was Tara's birthday, this greeting would be heralded with a great deal more fanfare, but it'd been a long time since Tara was alive in Buffy's timeline for her to celebrate it, so she was sadly unaware. Still, she smiled warmly in greeting, taking a seat opposite Tara at the table.

"Oh, you know... the same. Go to work, come home, curse the hamsters, go to work." She replied dryly, with a shrug. "How about you?"

[ location: cafe ]

[aworldenchanted]

"More or less the same," she said. "Willow and I tried to go on a date that was interrupted by supernatural danger, and it almost felt like home."