Disclaimer: Buffy the Vampire Slayer belong to Joss Whedon and company.
Prompts: Written for femslash_minis Round #118 for snogged who wanted the pairing along with Joyce introducing Olivia to something unknown to her or America, rain drops and intimacy without character death or children. .
Notes: Although it's not explicit, I see this being set sometime after Season Five and it's AU - there's no Dawn or Joyce dying.
Olivia looks at the meal in front of her and raises an eyebrow at Joyce. She knows that the other woman was trying to surprise her with the fish and chips dinner but Olivia doesn't know how to say that she's never really been a big fan of fish and chips or the fact that whatever Joyce has set in front of her looks unappealing. Joyce sighs as she looks down at their meals.
"I guess I failed at easing your homesickness," Joyce says as she pushes some of the mushy peas around on her plate.
"What do you mean homesickness?" Olivia asks.
Joyce looks up at her in surprise.
"I thought you were homesick what with all of the calls you've been making back home." Joyce pauses before pressing on. "Plus I saw your plane reservation on the printer at the gallery. I just assumed you were going home."
"This wasn't the way that I wanted to tell you," Olivia says.
Before she can say anything, Joyce is standing up, and clearing the plates away. Olivia sighs in frustration as she watches Joyce enter their small kitchen with their uneaten meals. She knows that she should have told Joyce her plan but she's not really good at this. Neither of them are. This whole relationship thing with another woman is a new concept for the pair of them and often times, Olivia finds that they're walking on egg shells trying not to offend the other.
Olivia enters the kitchen and takes the plates out of Joyce's hands. She sets them down on the counter before placing her hands on Joyce's wrists.
"Give me a kiss?" Olivia asks.
Joyce responds eagerly and Olivia can't deny that the physical aspect of their relationship makes up for other areas.
* * *
Olivia swings by the gallery and picks Joyce up with a promise of lunch and some answers. Although she's not exactly sure about how hot dogs from a street vendor constitute as lunch, the meal seems a little more appealing than the greasy fish and chips from the night before.
They sit beside one another on a bench, hot dogs in hand and silent as they eat their lunch and Olivia tries to find the right words. She's nervous about asking too much of Joyce. Especially when she knows that Joyce has this other life in Sunnydale and that her work at the gallery in San Francisco is only temporary as a favour to a friend who had recently had been in a car accident. What if Olivia puts herself on the line and Joyce rejects her? She's not quite sure she can take that.
"Penny for your thoughts?" Joyce quietly says.
"I'm just thinking that in all of the times I've been in the states, I've never had a hot dog."
Joyce seems to know that's not what Olivia is thinking but she laughs nonetheless.
"I'd say you're in for a treat but I thought that hot dogs would be easier for us to have a conversation than some fancy lunch."
Olivia sighs and she tries to say what's on her mind but Joyce beats her to it.
"Look I know that you never expected to be in a relationship with a middle-aged mother of one, much less the mother of the Slayer. And I know that in a month's time, I might be going back to Sunnydale but I'd like to think that what we have is worth figuring out. I'd like to figure out that in a month's time we won't be saying goodbye."
"I am going home because my mother has asked me to," Olivia says. "It's just a week."
It's another lie and Joyce lets it slide even though she frowns at the explanation.
It's raining by the time Olivia makes it back to San Francisco. The world is shrouded in grey and big fat rain drops are hitting the pavement, warning of heavier ran. She's dressed in a thin white sundress and sandals. She can only hope that she makes it to the gallery before the rain starts in earnest.
Unfortunately, she makes it to the gallery three minutes after the heavy rain. She clatters into the gallery causing Joyce to look up from her desk in surprise. It's been three days since Olivia had left, three cold nights alone where all Olivia wanted to do was roll over and wrap her arms around Joyce and breathe in her lovely scent.
Before Joyce can say anything, Olivia silences her with a finger against her lips.
"I was afraid to tell you that I was going to London to close up my life. I was afraid to tell you that if you want to move back to Sunnydale when your friend comes back to the gallery that things might be awkward between Giles and myself. I was afraid to tell you that I love you and I don't want to be without even though whatever this is between us scares me. I've never felt like this about someone else."
Joyce smiles at Olive as she takes off her cardigan and wraps it around her and then wraps her arms around Olivia. She presses a chaste kiss against Olivia's lips that has Olivia feeling like she's going to melt.
"My friend is thinking about selling the gallery and I am thinking about buying it," Joyce says.
Olivia smiles at her. She can picture them making a life together in San Francisco but she doesn't want Joyce to give up her life in Sunnydale because Olivia's afraid of the supernatural.
"Let's not make any hasty decisions," Olivia says. "Let's go home and figure things out together."
"I'd like that," Joyce says.
((END))