Karma: Rainy Days and Spells
by Spellbound
Saturday started the way a Saturday never should. It was pouring with rain and large thunderheads threatened the skyline turning the sky a peculiar shade of orange. Giles was the first to wake, the thunder forcing him from his slumber with a jolt. Rubbing his eyes, he glanced over at the alarm clock. 9.15. He stretched and rolled over, his face being presented with a large mound in the bed next to him. Xander, not much chance of him being up for at least another hour, but Giles shook him anyway. "Mmrumph." Came the response from the duvet beside him. Deciding it would probably be better to leave him sleeping, Giles picked up his glasses and hunted for his robe before leaving the bedroom and tiptoeing quietly towards the kitchen.

It had been discovered during a near sofa destroying pillow fight that Giles' couch also unfolded to make another bed. It was on this that Willow and Tara now slept, a gentle snore emerging from the covers as Giles filled the kettle. Buffy had chosen to sleep on the floor and had agreed to having her foot chained to a nearby radiator, just in case her vampiric nature felt a little peckish during the night. The window which she slept under had been fully covered to protect her from any sunlight that may have filtered through when dawn came, but since the day looked permanently stormy, Giles doubted they'd see any sun at all.
From the sofa bed, Willows head emerged, her hair all over the place and a large pillow crease down the right hand side of her face. Blearily she regarded Giles and smiled sweetly at him. "Morning." she whispered. He returned her smile and said; "Morning Willow. Would you like some tea?" Willow nodded as she stretched and swung her legs over the edge of the bed, padding quietly towards the bathroom as Giles fixed two cups of sweet tea.

When Willow returned from the bathroom she was noticeably less dishevelled and the pillow crease was fading on her cheek. She lifted her cup to her lips and drank. "So where do we start with the spell?" she whispered as she rubbed her eyes, trying to get them both to focus at the same time. Giles shook his head, "Well, I'm not entirely sure," he told her truthfully, "there are many locator spells, I think the best thing is to see if we can alter one of those for our specific requirements." he finished. Willow thought about this for a moment, it shouldn't be too difficult to change the wording slightly to achieve the desired result. "I'm thinking maybe a demon location spell." she said, "If we can alter the 'demon' part to something souly then we should have what we need." Giles nodded in agreement and spilt some of his tea on the rug in the process. Beside Willow, Tara stirred softly, her head appearing over the top of the covers and smiling weakly at the pair sat in the living room. "Morning." she said, her voice hoarse with sleep. Willow leant over and kissed her softly as Giles smiled and wiped up the tea from the floor, "We may have an idea as to the spell that we can use to find Anya." Giles told Tara as she sat up and rubbed her eyes, she looked at him with bleary eyes before swinging her legs over the edge of the bed and heading for the bathroom. "Does Tara drink tea?" Giles asked Willow as he got up to fix her a morning beverage, "Not first thing." Willow answered, "She prefers coffee with lots of milk."

In the corner of the room, and unknown to both Willow and Giles, Buffy had awoken and was watching the breakfast routine of her friends. "I'll have one too." she called to Giles, giggling as he jumped at her voice. Tara returned from the bathroom and slumped back down on the bed. Overnight both Tara and Buffy had regained more of their usual physical attributes and characteristics, although neither Willow nor Giles had really noticed.
A loud crash emerged from Giles' bedroom followed closely by some mild swearing and then by Xander in the doorway. "Morning." he said as he hopped into view. "Stubbed my toe on the bed." Willow giggled and Tara turned her face away from him, Xander didn't notice instead heading for the fridge and helping himself to a bottle of orange juice. He slurped noisily as he crossed the room and perched himself on the end of the folding bed, his drinking sounds drawing disapproving looks from the others. "I was just saying to Tara that we may have a way of finding Anya." Giles told him once he quietened his drinking.
A startled look contorted Xanders face and he put his drink down heavily, causing the juice to spill out onto the table. "Oh god, Anya!!" he exclaimed. The others looked suitably confused and watched as he rushed around the room trying desperately to find his other shoe. "My dog," he explained, "Anya, my dog, she's all alone." With that he ran, still only wearing one shoe into the street and back towards his apartment.

Willow, Buffy, Tara and Giles sat in silence for the briefest of moments before they all burst into spontaneous laughter, which subsided almost as quickly as it began. "Lets get to work." Giles said once he had composed himself. The women nodded and the hunt for the perfect spell to send them all home began.


This story archived at: The Slayer\'s Fanfic Archive
The Slayer\\\\\\\\'s FanFic Archive - http://www.slayerfanfic.com/viewstory.php?sid=12632