Marked 4
Previous chapters YEMF044, YSEMF020, ANYASEMF016
Tara barely restrained herself from dancing as they reached the motorhome with a large stack of books, though it was a near thing.
"Let's find a nice park and get some reading done, sound good?" Xander asked.
Tara signed yes with a bright smile, making Xander laugh. Being a succubus was wonderful! She got snuggles and books! Sinful thoughts about finding a way to combine the two made her knees tremble for a second and her breath shudder. She was thankful that Xander was opening the door and hadn't noticed.
"I saw a park on the map that isn't too far away," Xander said, "we could get some drinks and spend the afternoon reading in the park."
"I-I'd like that," Tara said softly.
"Then that's what we'll do," Xander said, waving her into the motorhome.
OoOoOoOoOo
Xander laid out a blanket for them to sit on beneath a tall tree so they could lean up against it while they read. A picnic basket and a stack of books was set down and made them blend in with the college crowd, though probably only about a third of them were studying.
He sat down and patted the blanket next to him for Tara to sit. The sound of laughing students and random discussions filled the air as the two settled in to read. He noticed Tara was occasionally distracted by the way the students dressed and behaved, which he could understand considering her upbringing, but he was soon completely absorbed by reading.
Tara scooted a little closer to Xander every few minutes while pretending to shift because she had noticed a particularly loud laugh or brightly dressed whore. It took nearly ten minutes for her to subtly move close enough to almost touch him when she noticed a barely dressed girl with sluttishly large breasts eyeing him. Gathering up her courage she grabbed his arm and put it around her.
Xander was briefly surprised when Tara pulled his arm around her, but then he recalled how she'd been this morning and set his book to the side. He gently scooped her up and put her in his lap. "So, what are we reading?"
"The-The use of common he-herbs to treat spiritual maladies," Tara stuttered out a little, leaning back into his embrace. A quick glance showed the whore had moved onto easier prey and she smiled.
"What kind of spiritual maladies do people commonly suffer from?" Xander asked curiously. He slowly drew her into talking about what she knew on the subject and the two discussed what she was reading.
Dandelions bloomed in a ten foot circle around the pair, squirrels and birds put in an appearance and ate all their chips unnoticed by them.
Hours later he felt Tara shiver and realized the sun was setting. "Time for dinner," Xander decided, reluctantly picking Tara up off his lap. "What would you like to eat?"
Tara shrugged.
"Would you like to go to a restaurant?" he offered, as he gathered up their things. Tara wrinkled her nose. "Or we could pick up something to go and eat in the motorhome."
"I-I'd like that," Tara said quickly.
"Then that's what we'll do," he said taking her hand and lacing his fingers through her own.
The blushing girl smiled as they returned to the motorhome.
"Tonight, I will introduce you to the wonder of Mexican food," Xander said, "or pizza if you prefer."
"I like pizza," Tara said, recalling the school cafeteria serving it a few times though not regularly.
"Pizza it is then," Xander said. "Any preference for toppings?"
"There are different toppings?" she asked with surprise.
"I'll get us a meat lovers and a Hawaiian pizza," Xander said, "then you can experience it for yourself."
After dinner
"I love pizza," Tara said with a half lidded gaze that he'd usually only seen on a girl's face after sex.
"It is great," Xander agreed. "Let's get a motel room for tonight, I feel like a nice hot shower and a comfy bed."
"The beds in here are comfy," Tara assured him.
"Comfy enough," he agreed, "mainly I like the shower."
Tara nodded, the feeling of hot water pouring on you from above with a door that locked was much more comfy than a bath in tepid water and a door that never seemed to stay shut, like at home.
Xander paid for a double and pulled the motorhome into the center of the lot under one of the light poles. No one was likely to bother it there and he wouldn't have to back out of a space in the morning. He loved the motorhome but backing out of a parking space was a bitch and a half.
Tara gathered a few books and some herbs along with a change of clothes, while Xander grabbed a change of clothes and toiletries. He didn't even notice his backpack that he kept slaying supplies in was already on his shoulder, the habit of keeping it close at hand habitual at this point.
The motel room was a bit worn, but clean and Tara could feel the laughter of children and strong family bonds that permeated the place as it was a favored stopping spot for families who wanted to go to the park but did not like camping. Feeling such strong bonds was bittersweet considering how weak the ones in her own family were, but then demons probably don't feel familial bonds as deeply as humans do she realized.
"Do you want the first shower?" Xander offered.
"You go first," Tara told him before she started examining the room and taking a few candles out of her bag.
"Alright, I'll try not to use up all the hot water," Xander joked.
Tara didn't get the joke but smiled anyway feeling the humor behind it. As the bathroom door closed she quickly lit the candles and pulled out several of the ingredients they'd bought earlier that day.
OoOoOoOoOo
Xander relaxed under the warmth of the spray, before grabbing the soap and working up a lather. As was his habit, he began to hum only to break out into song, "It's fun to stay at the YMCA! It's fun to stay at the YMCA!"
"Great acoustics," Xander said while he was drying off, noting that it made his voice sound a bit deeper and richer in tone.
Putting on a pair of clean boxers with teddy bears on them and a simple white shirt he exited the bathroom. "Bathroom's open," he said. Smelling the air, he realized she'd probably cast a cleansing or protection spell of some kind.
Tara nodded, averting her eyes from his but smiling as she entered the bathroom. The spell had worked! 'Was using magic still evil if you used it to remove evil from the world?' she wondered to herself as she closed the door behind her.
Tara stared at the lock button for a moment, unsure if she wanted him to come in while she was showering or not, before reminding herself that she was a demon so sinful behavior like mixed bathing was perfectly natural. Besides, maybe he'd wash her hair again, that had been nice.
Despite her hopes he didn't come in while she was showering, which was a bit of a relief, but also disappointing. 'I should have come in while he was showering,' she realized. Apparently as a succubus she was supposed to make not only the first move, but all the moves. It was so unfair, but a bit nice as well as she'd get to move things along at a pace she felt comfortable with, which being an incarnation of lust, would likely be a bit faster than he would choose.
He was already in bed when she came out, though not asleep yet as he had the bedside lamp on and was reading a book.
Tara smiled at the sight in the dimly lit room. She quietly retrieved a book for herself and set it on the nightstand before taking a deep breath and removing her shift. Dressed only in a bra and panties she lifted up the covers and slid in next to him.
Xander was surprised for a moment at Tara's actions but realized he shouldn't have been. She had been starved of simple human affection and touch for years. So naturally she was going to fill the need with whoever she felt safe with and that happened to be him. The trust she was showing him gave him a warm feeling in his chest and helped him push his libido down. Thankfully the high waisted granny panties and torso covering old fashioned bra helped. 'After all she's gone through, I must seem like an angel to her,' Xander thought, turning to the side in the small bed and cuddling with her. "So, what are we reading tonight?"
Snug in the arms of her demon Tara lived out her naughtiest fantasy… Tara turned and wordlessly tugged on his shirt. Once Xander had removed it the young succubus snuggled deep into his embrace and grabbed her book. "Demons of North America," she said quietly, practically radiating happiness.
OoOoOoOoOo
"We gotta get up," Xander said shaking her gently.
"No," Tara said nuzzling his chest.
"While I do love snuggling with you, I need to pee," Xander told her.
"Ok," Tara said, letting him go.
"I'll be right back," he promised.
"Ok," Tara said with a small pout that vanished as soon as he'd returned and slid under the covers, so he could snuggle with her.
"We have a couple more hours until we have to get up," Xander said, "is that sufficient snuggling time for today?" He grinned and gave her a squeeze.
"Maybe," Tara said, soaking in the warmth, "it seems to take a lot of snuggling to keep a succubus fed."
Xander laughed and rolled onto his back so she was laying on his chest. He gently stroked her back and she sighed happily. It was good to see her opening up enough to make a joke. "Any time you feel hungry just let me know, cause I quite like this."
"Ok," she said feeling a bit stronger and less uncertain now that she'd admitted aloud what she was. Of course, it really helped the she was with a fellow demon or part demon as he'd mentioned.
Two hours, and not one second less, later…
Tara got up and stretched, blushing as she realized how little she was wearing in the brightly lit room, right in front of Xander and hurried to get dressed in the bathroom.
Xander got dressed and packed up their things, amused by how Tara, shy little Tara, could be surprisingly aggressive, but only in certain situations. It was just so cute!
Her death had hit just as hard as Joyce's, if not harder, so was it any wonder that when offered a wish, even by The Hoff himself, he'd taken it?
He was given a single task in exchange for being sent to the past and it wasn't even one he disagreed with.
Tara came out of the bathroom, breaking his train of thought.
"Are you ready?" Xander asked while slowly making the correct hand signs.
"Yes, I'm ready," Tara said while carefully signing back, copying the last hand sign from him as he hadn't taught it to her before and looking to him for approval.
Xander smiled and nodded. "We can pick up something to eat on the road.
"What is Sunnydale like?" Tara asked as they left.
"On the surface it is the perfect little town to raise a family," he replied as he locked the door and they crossed the lot to where he'd parked. "Beneath the surface it's the perfect trap to lure in people for the vampires to feed on and beneath that… is yet another layer of danger that makes the vampires seem like cockroaches."
"R-really?" Tara asked nervously, as he unlocked the motorhome.
"It's easy to stay in the top level," Xander assured her, "all you have to do is not go out at night and ignore anything out of the ordinary. I really suck at that for some reason." He followed her inside and they both stowed their clothing and slipped into the front seats.
"Why live there?" she asked, as he started up the vehicle.
"Because it's easier to stop bad things from happening when you are where they happen," Xander said after a moment of thought. "I've been told I could live a normal life, have a wife, kids etc… and just stay out of it, but I'm just not built that way. I hear a scream coming from a dark alley, I run towards it."
Tara nodded as he pulled out into traffic. She supposed Brachen demons were really tough if a quarter Brachen could do that and survive. The more she leaned about him, the better she liked him, even if his aura was the stuff of nightmares.
Xander flipped on the radio looking for a good song to sing along to.
Tara tensed, but as he began to sing Guns and Roses' sweet child of mine, she relaxed and smiled, humming along to the unfamiliar tune.
Lunchtime
They pulled into a rest stop on the middle of the Salt Flats in Utah. It was absolutely flat for miles in every direction.
"How?" Tara asked stunned.
"Well," Xander said slowly, "either I am the worst navigator since Moses, or someone is messing with us. I'm going to say the second is more likely."
"That's more the why than the how," a girl's voice spoke up from behind them.
Spinning around Xander saw a young girl, who looked like Alice from Alice in Wonderland, though her hair was red and eyes green. "If you start singing any nursery rhymes we are out of here."
"I don't even know what that means," she said, confused.
Xander sighed. "Who are you and why did you do this?"
"My name is Reflections of Truth in Moonlight and I'm a go between for mortals and The Ones Above All," she explained. "I redirected you here because your resurrecting a second slayer would… break things, like this world."
Xander thought about that for a second. "I'm going to call you Alice."
"Mortals are so weird," Alice complained.
"Kendra is scheduled to die and I have enough emergency medical experience to keep her hanging on long enough to be medically resurrected by the ER doctors," Xander guessed.
"Yes, that had been foreseen," Alice agreed. "We need you not to do it or the End of Days will be here before the new year."
"You have no idea what subtlety is, do you?" Xander asked.
Alice frowned. "But Whistler said it would be best to be straightforward with you otherwise you would do something stupid and unforeseen."
"Not what I meant and he was right," Xander said. "What I mean is, why not send the slayer spirit on the instant a slayer's death become unavoidable? If you did that then there is no chance of further splitting the slayers line and my resuscitating her isn't a problem."
"That would constitute interference," Alice said while absently playing with a lock of hair.
"You have my permission in this case," Xander assured her.
"I think I'd need a little bit more than just a mortal's permission to mess with the balance," she said, rolling her eyes and crossing her arms.
"You're looking at it the wrong way," Xander said.
"A lower being is going to explain matters of balance to me?" she asked in stark disbelief her eyes turning silver for a moment.
"Yes, I am," Xander said. "You are not allowed to force people to obey you, requiring willing consent to act directly on this plane. I am giving you willing consent to use your powers in this manner."
Alice crossed her legs and sat on the air as she chewed a nail and thought about it. "That… would work," she decided. "It would be up to you to save her life, Kendra Young would no longer be our responsibility."
"Agreed," Xander said. "The instant Drusilla's fangs touch her skin the slayer spirit moves on to Faith Lehane as planned."
"Agreed," the little redhead said, vanishing.
Xander turned to Tara and saw how pale she looked. "You have a lot of questions?" he guessed.
Tara simply nodded.
OoOoOoOoOo
"From the way you spoke of him I thought he'd be harder to manipulate or would do something I didn't expect… like attempt to shave my head," Alice told Whistler.
"As long as they think they have the upper hand, mortals are pretty easy to manipulate," Whistler assured her. "It's when they feel pressured or cornered, they do strange things."
She nodded. "Drusilla will not receive the additional strength she would have gotten for draining another slayer and Faith's activation will not be in the midst of getting raped and her accidentally killing the boy. A net gain for our side. Why did the other side agree to this?"
"The First Evil burned a lot of bridges," Whistler said smugly, "secure in its superiority."
"And those same forces it burned before would side with us just to burn it in return," Alice said with a nod. "Is that why you treat the lower beings the way you do, so such a thing, no matter how unlikely, will never happen to you?"
"I've seen lower beings rise up to become Powers, and Powers cast down to become lower beings," Whistler said, "so it is possible, but mainly… I appear weak to encourage them to grow strong, and kindness doesn't really cost me anything, so when I can I try and help out a little. It doesn't take a lot, just a subtle nudge to put people on the right track sometimes."
Alice nodded. "Lower beings could use all the help they can get."
"Exactly," Whistler said with a grin as Alice called up an image of Xander and Tara and watched the pair interact.
OoOoOoOoOo
"So, you were giving advice to an angel," Tara said after a quick explanation, "not a little girl."
"No reason she can't be both," Xander said.
"A child angel?" Tara asked surprised.
"Power and knowledge beyond our comprehension," Xander said, "life experience of just a few years."
"So, her appearance was her real form?" Tara tried to wrap her mind around the concept.
"She gave us her name, part of which is 'truth', so her appearance and actions will likely always carry a good degree of truth to them," Xander explained. "Her real form may be some huge being of light and mist but transformed into a human form she's an adorable little girl."
"Why did you insist on calling her Alice?" Tara asked.
"Because she should get out of the habit of giving her true name down here," Xander said. "Whistler's true name isn't Whistler, he uses it because you never know who is listening down here."
"So, you weren't doing it just to annoy her?" Tara asked.
"I tease the people I like, especially if they need it," Xander admitted, "but in this case I'm just giving her a little nudge to pay attention to opsec, operational security."
"Nudging an angel?" Tara asked in disbelief.
"This world only works because we help each other," Xander said, "that's the big difference between us and them. It's not labels like demon or angel, it's what we choose to do. So, maybe my nudge wasn't needed and she already knew, but I still had to try and if I only managed to annoy her, that's okay too." Xander grinned. "I'm told patience and serenity are hallmarks of higher beings."
Typing by: fyrewolf5
AN: I have a plot! How did this happen?
TN: I have no idea how you got a plot, but I'm glad to hear it. And the delicious misunderstandings continue.
TN2: For anyone who hasn't figured out what spell Tara cast go read the first couple of chapters, and you should be able to figure it out.
