Title: Beer Very Bad
Author: Golden Waffles
Rating: T. For minor language and occasional mentions of sex. But not in this chapter.
Disclaimer: Of course I don't own the characters or settings of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Just the situations I put them in here.
A/N: Here we are again. I wanted to show a more playful side of their relationship in this chapter, since they've been dating for awhile at this point and I haven't shown that much yet. Not everything in life is angst. The next chapter or two will be… interesting. It'll be my reimagining of "Where the Wild Things Are." So you have that to look forward to. If you dare.

Chapter 25:
Loans

"I'm just saying, it's barbaric. There's no need for you to subject yourself to that kind of purgatory." Willow pulled another shirt from the warm dryer and passed it to Tara, who folded it and placed it on top of a tall stack on the adjacent machine.

"Do Jews even believe in purgatory?" the blonde asked, neatly avoiding the subject as she straightened the leaning tower of shirts.

"That's besides the point and you know it." Willow narrowed her eyes at her laundry companion and bounced a scrunched-up sock off of Tara's shoulder, earning her a playful glare that threatened retaliation.

"Honestly, it's not as bad as you make it out to be. It's not like I'm hammering it out with a rock and chisel." Tara gave the sock a considering look, but apparently decided to forgo her revenge, instead tossing it into another pile. Willow turned back to the dryer to hide her growing smile.

"No, it's worse," the redhead insisted, returning to the point at hand. They had to stay on topic if she was going to make her offer to Tara. It would be a delicate procedure, and she couldn't afford to get distracted. At her accusation, her girlfriend arched an eyebrow into a skeptical expression.

"Using the school computer lab is worse than copying my assignments out on rocks?"

Willow gave a resolute nod.

"Exactly." Tara's expression prompted her to explain herself, so she continued, using her most authoritative tone. "Technology is supposed to make things better. Typing and printing an essay should be faster and easier than writing it out. Having to set aside twenty minutes to print a one-page document would be like…" She grasped for an example, finally just patting the machine in front of her with her open palm. "…like if we had to set aside eight hours to do one load of laundry in this machine. We'd be better off taking it to a river and beating it against rocks."

"It's not a big deal."

"In the time it took you to log in, open the browser, open your e-mail, and print the page, we could have walked to my dorm room, printed it out there, and bought and finished two large cups of coffee. Each. And two of those giant chocolate muffins they sell in the café."

Tara shook her head, amused.

"I told you you could get coffee and just meet me after," she reminded her. It was true. Willow's restless fidgeting had prompted the suggestion, but the redhead had had no desire to take her up on it. Although it had been almost a week since Jonathan's monster attack, Willow was still sleeping over and generally spending any spare moment with her recovering girlfriend. By now, Tara's bruises had faded, and even the gash on her side had healed over into a mostly painless pink line. The nightmares mostly seemed to keep their distance, and her mood had fully recovered. Soon, Willow would be out of excuses to follow her around like a guard puppy. At the thought, the redhead slumped slightly.

"But… that's no fun." It was a silly-sounding excuse, even to her own ears. Tara seemed to agree, giving her a lopsided smile.

"Because you had so much fun in the computer lab? You spent literally the entire time complaining."

Willow fought back a blush. She had gotten frustrated by the sluggish computer, to the point where she had been sure that it was broken, despite Tara's insistence that it was always that slow. It had made her grumpy and indignant, but she hadn't meant to be whiny about it.

"I wanted to hang out with you," Willow mumbled. She had meant to sound defensive, but the statement had lost its edge somewhere in her throat, and it came out sounding more than a little pathetic. Tara's expression softened in response, her amused skepticism melting into a more genuine and reassuring smile.

"I know. Me, too." Her tone took on a serious undertone for just a moment, before turning playful again. "We're hanging out now, right?" Tara nudged her gently with her elbow, prompting her to relax.

Willow nodded for a moment, but cast a calculating glance out of the corner of her eye.

"Unless this is some kind of illusion," she added flippantly, then waited for Tara's reaction. The blonde paused mid-fold and tilted her head slightly.

"An illusion?" she asked, turning her head to show Willow her questioning eyebrow, arched over one sparkling blue eye. Willow nodded in mock-severity.

"Yeah. Like maybe I'm under some kind of sexy mind control. Or maybe you're a hologram. Or a hallucination. Or a robot sent to pump me for information."

Tara's eyebrow stayed arched, but the blue eyes below turned somehow darker. Willow felt her knees weaken at the sight.

"Pump you?" The blonde asked, her voice lowering an octave and taking on a sultry smoothness. It sounded like she was considering the suggestion.

Willow gulped, suddenly feeling the heat from the dryer a little too acutely.

"For information," she added, her own voice taking on Tara's lost octave and coming out as a squeak.

"Hmm. I guess that's possible." Tara stepped forward, bringing them almost nose-to-nose. She smelled like soap and fabric softener. "But could a hologram do this…"

Willow closed her eyes and braced herself for a heart-stopping kiss, and was therefore surprised and alarmed to find herself being smothered by a still-slightly-damp sweater. She clawed it off of her head to the muffled sound of Tara's giggles, ending with it bunched loosely in her hands.

"You do know that this means war," Willow warned, taking a step towards her grinning girlfriend, who was already backing away, eyes dancing with mirth. You're so dead, Maclay. Nobody tricks me out of smooches.

"So come get me," Tara suggested. Willow cheerfully obeyed.

Tara was slipperier than Willow had anticipated, and nimbly dodged her first few attempts, which were admittedly hampered by the redhead's uncontrollable laughter. The situation was the best kind of ludicrous. The chase expanded to fill the entire laundry room, Tara evading her girlfriend's grasp over and over again. Finally, Willow got her cornered against the soda machine, using the sweater like a lasso to hold her in place. She pinned her there with her entire body, still panting to catch her breath after the exertion. Tara wasn't much better off, her face glowing a healthy pink from the effort. Willow could feel her ragged breath graze her lips, almost encouragingly.

"There," Willow said, once she found enough breath to speak. Her voice had lost its panicked pitch. "Now I've got you."

"You do," Tara agreed. Her voice was breathy, but had the same undertones of seriousness as before. Willow felt her heart warm at the sentiment. "So… what are you going to do with me?"

Willow felt her lips curve into a wide smile.

"Well, I was thinking, maybe…" She leaned forward. "This."

Part of her had considered retaliating by smothering Tara with the sweater, but she quickly decided that she would rather have the kissing. She covered Tara's lips with her own, lightly at first, but more firmly as she felt a pair of warm hands snake up her back. Fingers threaded themselves in her hair as the kiss deepened, and Willow felt her mind go uncharacteristically blank, like somewhere a switch had been flipped into the "off" position. For several blissful moments, all she was aware of was the movement of lips under hers, the wandering hands on her back, and the effervescent tingling that suffused her body all the way to the tips of her toes.

Awareness returned with the harsh, jarring sound of a buzzer. She pulled back with a groan, and buried her face in Tara's shoulder.

"And here I thought the laundry room was on our side," she pouted. She raised her head reluctantly and glared back at the offending machine, a dryer that had completed its cycle and would continue its deafening buzz until its door was opened. "Traitor."

Tara offered her a wry half-smile, although she didn't look any happier about the interruption.

"To be continued?" she suggested. Going against all of her instincts, Willow sighed and nodded, taking an unhappy step back to quiet the buzzing dryer. Reaching it, she yanked the door open with unnecessary force, as though hoping to punish it for ruining the moment. Tara took her place next to her again, absently tracing her own lips with her fingertips. Willow knew the feeling. Her own lips were still buzzing in an extremely pleasant way.

"Laundry is fun," Tara commented, breaking through Willow's bubble of indignity and coaxing out a laugh.

"Yeah. I must have been doing it all wrong before today."

Tara leaned sideways against the dryer, accepting each clothing item as Willow handed them up to her.

"Are you convinced I'm not an illusion yet?" she asked cheekily. Willow smirked.

"Mostly, but it never hurts to double-check." She liked that idea. She could spend several hours 'double-checking,' she was sure. "Do you have anything planned for today?"

Tara wrinkled her nose at the question.

"You're going to hate this." She forewarned. Willow's heart sank in anticipation of disappointment. "I actually have to go back to the computer lab and work on another paper."

Willow heaved a sigh so loud and melodramatic that it made Tara roll her eyes.

"I don't know what you expect me to do," the blonde defended herself. "I have to have things typed and printed for class sometimes. That means hours spent in the computer lab." She didn't sound thrilled about that fact.

"I know." It doesn't mean I have to be happy about it. If only there was a solution… A memory niggled in the back of Willow's mind. There was something she was supposed to tell Tara, but her mind was foggy and forgetful after the kissing. It took her a moment of backtracking before it struck her. Oh! Right! She slyly turned her voice off-handed and innocent. "You know, I have a computer. You could always use mine."

Tara gave an appreciative smile, but immediately shook her head at the offer.

"It takes me forever to type things. I wouldn't want to monopolize it when you have an assignment."

"Okay, okay…" Willow paused, gathering the moxie to give the real offer. "You know, I have two computers."

Tara just canted her head, puzzled.

"Why?"

"They get outdated fast, and my parents like to stay up-to-date. And sometimes it's just a hassle to try to sell them, so I'll just hang onto my old one for backup or spare parts. But I don't use it for anything. It just sits in my closet."

Tara paused, a half-folded pajama shirt in her hand.

"This conversation better not be going where I think it's going," she warned.

"Why not?"

"Because I can't." She was shaking her head even before the offer was made. Willow scowled.

"I took your rock," she countered stubbornly. Tara's brow knitted in blank confusion.

"You what?"

Willow reached for her messenger bag and fished out the Doll's Eye crystal.

"This. Your rock. The Doll's Eye. You gave it to me and I took it."

Tara paused, for a second looking surprised and amused, her eyes flickering between Willow and the crystal.

"You carry it with you?" she asked, silent laughter coloring her voice. Willow found herself blushing.

"Well… yeah. Kind of." She hadn't expected to feel embarrassed, but Tara seemed legitimately charmed by the revelation. The blonde bit her lip for a moment before speaking.

"That's cute," she said finally, as though it was a definitive statement. Willow blushed deeper.

"Well, I haven't been in my dorm room much lately– which isn't a bad thing! I love staying with you," she was quick to add. "I just thought that if I left it there and Buffy found it there she might just think it was a broken paperweight or something, and she might throw it out or try to borrow it and break it or lose it. I wanted to keep it safe." She knew she was leaving out the part where it was her first real gift from Tara and she liked having it with her to remind her of her girlfriend. Tara grinned through her babbling.

"It's still cute," she repeated once Willow had finished.

"That's not the point," Willow grumbled, although she couldn't bring herself to really be grumpy with Tara looking at her like that. "The point is, I felt the same way about taking the crystal."

The blonde winced, and her smile faded to a faint grimace.

"It's different. Computers are expensive. And I'm really bad with them. I would probably break it somehow." Willow could hear a note of shame in her voice, and was quick to speak against it.

"No you wouldn't," she insisted. "Besides, Doll's Eye crystals aren't exactly cheap, and they're a lot harder to come by than old laptops."

Tara didn't relent.

"Willow, I can't."

"Just think of it as a long term loan." The redhead used the same phrasing that Tara had used in offering her the crystal. "It's still technically mine. You'll just be holding onto it for me."

"No, Willow. It just wouldn't be right."

Okay then. It looks like we're bringing out the big guns.

"It wouldn't?" Willow raised her eyebrows and fingered the crystal with a confused expression. "Then maybe I should give this back to you. Maybe it wouldn't be right for me to keep it."

Willow held it out to her. Tara stepped back, looking wounded at the suggestion, and gave her a pitiful look.

"N-no. I w-want you to keep it." Her voice had shrunk as the tables turned. Willow felt guilty, but hoped that it would be for the best in the end.

"And I want you to use my computer. It's so much faster and better than the school ones, and you won't have to spend hours in the computer lab anymore. Please?" More time away from the computer lab would mean more time with Willow, to spend kissing and talking and playing and generally doing things that were much more fun than waiting for a computer to log in.

Tara sighed and bowed her head, her hair swishing forward to shelter her.

"I'll think about it," she said finally.

"Promise?" Willow asked, eyes narrowed.

"I promise."

Willow left her eyes narrowed, but tried to turn her suspicious gaze into a playful leer.

"I'll make it worth your while." She waggled her eyebrows suggestively, provoking an unexpected laugh from her girlfriend. Tara reluctantly smiled, relaxing out of her defensive posture.

"Well, when you put it like that…"