taxonomites | 10 [Location: Castle Summers / visual] Everything will be okay

It's taken Willow a really, really long time to work up the courage to make this broadcast, and even when she convinces herself she can't wait any longer, she still has to have some measure of comfort. Colette, her calico kitten, is tucked in her lap, purring contentedly as Willow leans back against the back of the chair she's sitting in. She's in her bedroom, the one she shares with Tara, and she looks nervous as she flicks on the feed.

"Uh, hi, Taxon!" She's using a falsely bright tone at the moment, because it's easier than acknowledging the fear and worry she's trying to keep at bay. Come on, Willow. You can do this.

"I-I know most of you probably know me by now, but, uh, if you don't, my name's Willow and I've been here for a couple of months now."

Pause. Breathe. Stroke the cat for comfort.

"What I really wanted to talk about is... my glitch a couple of months ago. Back in February. I know it's been a really long time and words aren't gonna make up for everything, but... I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt anyone."

Well, yes, actually she had, but that was her glitched self, so that doesn't count at all.

"I'm a witch and I have some really powerful magic. I just... I'm learning how to control it so that doesn't happen again. My magic's just a part of me and I-I'm... sorry any of that happened."

Before she can beat herself up any more, she switches the feed off and waits to see how the rest of Taxon responds to her apology. Castle Summers residents can find her in her room. She'll be happy for visitors.

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Willow had figured that was what would've happened and she returned the lopsided grin. "It's just a little easier when you're invited in instead of... y'know... being the concerned friend who barges in. Not that... that's a bad thing!"

The last thing she wanted was for DG to think she minded.

"Yeah... I know." She took a deep breath and let it out, shooting DG a teasing grin. "Speaking of giving the hamsters ideas, maybe we should start the apple pie before they decide to glitch the food again."

"I've done that," confessed DG with a sheepish smile. At least Willow was smiling again. That was all that she'd really wanted. "And that would be a shame. It's the best apple pie in Kansas. Probably in Taxon, too."

One of these days, Willow would seriously have to tell DG just how much the other woman was coming to mean to her, and just how much this was helping her deal with the pain. The redhead hopped off her bed and set about grabbing spare plates, forks, and napkins so they could start in on the pie.

"I wouldn't put it past them to do something like that," she admits, carving out a piece and digging in. "Mmmm this is really good. Just what the doctor ordered."

"I didn't like it much when I was in Kansas," she admitted, helping herself to a piece, "Having to serve it for a living takes the fun out of eating it. I really wasn't cut out to be a waitress."

Willow made a face at that. "I-if the waitressing jobs in Kansas are anything like the ones in Sunnydale, then I wasn't cut out to be a waitress, either. I-I like it better when you can eat it yourself instead of serve it to everyone else."

"You were a waitress too?" asked DG in surprise. She was pleased to discover that she wasn't the only one who'd fallen into that role. (Or who'd worked hard to escape from it afterwards.)

"Um kind of? Not for long a-and Buffy did it more than I did."

Sort of. It was a whole long complicated mess.

"Mostly you just hear the stories. Bad tips, bad people, bad everything."

"Bad bosses who will yell at you if you're a second late to clock in," she continued, "Bad customers who'll turn up for coffee just to remind that they're going to give you a ticket. I've got plenty of stories. None of them are that exciting."

Everything of note in her life had happened in the O.Z.

Willow winced at that. "And I thought it was bad dealing with Anya demanding money all the time o-or Giles selling really powerful magical items to gods trapped in human bodies."

...What, it had happened!

DG, on the other hard, stared at Willow in wide eyed surprise when her friend detailed her own idea of an average day at work. She believed her, of course, but that didn't mean that she'd heard anything like that before.

"I think you win, Willow."

Willow freezes, staring apologetically for a second. "I wasn't trying to win anything! Honest!" It had just... kind of come out.

"It was a joke, Willow," said DG, shaking her head in amusement. "Gods trapped in human bodies? I think I'd take the speeding tickets."

"Oh... W-well, I don't really wanna win something like that anyway." She blushed a little bit, ducking her head. It wasn't that she couldn't take a joke - Xander had cracked them all the time - but she'd just thought it wasn't something that anyone would want to top.

"Yeah, so would I. Glory was... special. But she's gone now and that's what's important." She said it with a decisive nod. Glory was dead and Buffy was alive. Those were the most important things to her at that point. Well, second to Tara's sanity being returned.

DG didn't need to ask any more questions about Glory to know that Willow viewed her in the same way that she viewed the witch that had once lived inside her sister. She wasn't special, she was dangerous. Deadly, even. It was easier to focus on the fact that she'd finally been defeated than the rest of what she'd done.

"I understand."

And she did.

10 [Location: Castle Summers / visual] Everything will be okay

[Location: Castle Summers]

[Location: Castle Summers]

[Location: Castle Summers]

[Location: Castle Summers]

[Location: Castle Summers]

[Location: Castle Summers]

[Location: Castle Summers]

[Location: Castle Summers]

[Location: Castle Summers]

[Location: Castle Summers]

[Location: Castle Summers]

[Location: Castle Summers]

[Location: Castle Summers]

[Location: Castle Summers]