OK so this one comes from an amalgamation of three ideas:
1. What if Xander and Cordelia were talking throughout their terrible summers post-s3 and Cordelia came to Oxnard to visit Xander
2. What if Faith showed up in Oxnard, awoken from her coma but not remembering anything from the past year/being a Slayer, and Xander had to contend with looking after her and all the complicated feelings that come with that.
3. What if Tara was ALSO in Oxnard that summer and Xander meets her before Willow does (this was partially inspired by a fic I saw mentioning them *sleeping together* in Oxnard, which, uh, no thanks, but I do want Xander to do his overly friendly golden retriever thing and befriend her so they can queen out together (and so Willow can later get inconsequentially annoyed about him meeting Tara before her, because I think it's funny))
And THEN I thought...what if that all happened at the same time, leading to the world's most awkward iteration of the Scoobies. And that's what this snippet is/what this fic would be.
TW for (brief) mention of attempted rape.
"This is so weird," says Cordy, looking over at where Faith and Tara are sitting on the couch in the hostel lounge.
"I know," says Xander, bobbing up and down. His arms are crossed across his chest uncomfortably and he's scratching compulsively at his forearm.
Cordelia glances back at him before narrowing her eyes at Faith again. "And she really doesn't remember anything?"
Xander shakes his head. "Don't think so. Nothing from when she was a Slayer, anyway."
Cordelia chews her lip. "How do you know she's telling the truth? I mean, she's not exactly—"
"Famed for her honesty?" He forces himself to turn away from Faith and look at Cordy directly. "When she got here. Before she even saw me, she was being...attacked." He puts a lot of thought into how to phrase it, not wanting to give away too much and risk humiliating her. It's so strange, to feel empathy for someone about the thing they did to you. "By two guys. She didn't even try and fight back. I figured she would, which is why I was watching. Ended up jumping in at the last minute."
"And got a black eye for your troubles," Cordelia says, nodding at it and wincing in sympathy. "Are you sure it's just memory loss? Maybe she lost her powers too."
Xander shakes his head. "She punched me in the arm the other day. You know, in a friendly way." He turns and shows Cordy the bruise. "So, you know. Still super strong."
Cordy chews her lip, searching for something else to say, but at that moment, Faith calls out.
"Hey! Fuckface! Get over here!" She gestures to Xander, and Xander gives Cordy a pained expression before starting over.
Cordelia can't help but snigger a bit at that. "She calls you Fuckface?" she hisses.
"Yes," mutters Xander out the side of his mouth. "And don't you go getting any ideas. I'm stronger than you."
Cordelia sticks her tongue out at his back and then follows him over.
"Cordelia." Cordy perches on the other couch next to Xander and eyes Faith warily.
"And this is Tara." Xander introduces the other girl, even though he'd already told Cordelia her name, if little else.
Cordelia smiles at the other girl, who she can only describe as mousy. Mousy hair, mousy expression. "Hi!" she says. Tara just blinks at her and looks scared. "How did you and Xander meet, then?"
"Oh, well...Xander just c-came up to me on the beach. S-started t-talking."
Cordelia doesn't let Tara's slight stutter faze her. She rolls her eyes in Xander's direction. "He does that," she says.
Tara offers up a very small smile. "I don't mind. I don't like to talk much."
Cordelia nods. Well, that's the end of that conversation, then. She turns back to Faith, who looks exactly the same as when she last saw her. She can hardly believe that the last year of their lives may as well not exist to her. It doesn't seem fair.
"Tara's running away from her parents," Faith says matter-of-factly.
Xander gives Faith a look that she doesn't notice, which reads to Cordelia like that was Tara's private information that she shouldn't have revealed. Then he says, "So we're all orphans of the storm," Xander says, smiling reassuringly at Tara. "Kind of."
"Although I'm the only one who's actually an orphan," Faith says. You'd think that would bring the conversation to a dead halt — Tara's certainly frozen up, looking at Faith in pity and consternation. But Faith just barrels on. "How long have you known Xander, Cords?"
The nickname irritates her, but she tries not to show it. "A while," she says, glancing at Xander, who grins.
"Try nearly all our lives," he says, rolling his eyes in a put-upon way. Cordy just shakes her head at him.
"Oh yeah?" says Faith. "Then maybe you can tell me why Xander seems to know me, when I'd never seen him in my life until he rocked up last week down an alleyway in Oxnard and saved me from a couple of lowlives who were trying to rape me?"
Tara inhales sharply, which distracts Faith from the way Xander goes very still. Attempting to remain unfazed, Cordelia says, "I don't know. Maybe you have a doppelganger out there?"
it's actually hilarious how much the media want us to care about taylor swift being at the superbowl! they keep mentioning it on the radio and i roll my eyes every time 🤣 i watch the superbowl with my dad so i'm interested to see if the coverage makes a big deal out of her
it's so funny like why is it national headline news that an american singer is going to an american sporting event that usually nobody here cares about?? I will also be staying up to watch because my boyfriend is into it (although I have to say I've been so overloaded with chiefs stuff that at this point I resent them and just want the 49ers to win instead 🤣)
@skatingthinandice @remembertheskittles aww I got twin asks from both of you!! Hahaha 🥰💖💖💖💖
I’ll do top 10 from my on repeat but only the first song on there from any individual artist for variety haha (so it’s not all fall out boy, unlike my blog currently lmao.)
Everybody Wants Somebody - Patrick Stump
All You Had To Do Was Stay (Taylor’s Version) - Taylor Swift
Cry - Carly Rae Jepsen
Bob Dylan - Fall Out Boy
In My Head - Jason DERULOOOO
(Had to skip so much fob/patrick/carly rae at this point lol)
hiiiiii here to scream about rwrb with you!!! it's altered my brain chemistry, i stayed up last night to watch it and i keep beaming in the office because i can't stop thinking about it 😭
HELLO yes it was so good! nick and taylor were really perfect as henry and alex, 10/10 no notes. it was such a sweet and sincere movie, even if it wasn't perfect, and i am so in love with it 🥺🥺 definitely going on my list of comfort movies :)
Thank you so much to @skatingthinandice and @remembertheskittles, a true dream team, for participating in the TLK Afterparty! We hereby bestow this award on you for completing the longest edit series, with 28 coordinating installments.
If folks haven’t had the chance, you can view Katie and Lucy’s amazing edits here.
