Buffy sheepishly walked behind Willow and
Tara. The two witches were covered with a
viscuous green fluid, which was growing tacky
with every step. They were both itching
furiously.
	"Unbelievable," Willow muttered.
	"I'm sorry!" Buffy cried out.
	"Whatever you do, don't let its blood
touch anybody, Buffy," Willow said, mimicking
Giles. "It'll take an hour in a hot shower to
get it off, Buffy. Whatever you do, don't
strike its head off with a sword and soak your
friends in its contagious demon-juice, Buffy!"
	"Oh, don't be such a baby!"
	"Baby?" Tara barked. Buffy and Willow
looked at her in surprise; it was the loudest
sound either of them had ever heard her make.
"We're soaked in the blood of a Sandus demon!
Do you have any idea how nasty this stuff is?
I feel like the inside of a jockstrap!"
	"All right, all right," Buffy said. "Here
we are..." They had arrived at the floor's
bathroom, which had four showers. Thankfully,
there was no one on the hall this late at
night. "I'll bring you in some soap."
	"Lots of soap. And lotions," Willow
added.
	"And shampoo!" Tara called out. "And
maybe a scouring brush!" 

*** 

	Hot water began to sluice over her and
Willow gasped; it was borderline scalding, but
at least it was cutting through the Sandus
blood. She began to vigorously scrub herself,
trying to get the foul stuff off.
	"Uh...Willow?"
	"Tara?" She could hear her friend on the
other side of the curtain.
	"I have a slight problem."
	"What's the matter?"
	"The other showers are broken."
	"...what?"
	"I swear I'm not kidding," Tara said, a
little desperately. "There's nothing coming out
of the one next to you, and the other two are
spitting out this brown stuff."
	"Oh." She thought for a moment. "Um...how
are the showers on your floor?"
	"I'd never make it!" Tara shouted. "I can
feel this stuff crawling all over me!
Um...look, could I come in there?"
	"In here? With me?"
	"Unless you want to come out." Willow
winced; she could imagine half-a-dozen
Xanderian responses to that one. She thought
for a long moment.
	"Willow!" Tara cried.
	"Um...okay. Sure. Come on in."
	Tara slipped through the curtain and
grabbed a second bar of soap. She began to
scrub her skin furiously. Willow found herself
suddenly very interested in the ceiling tiles.
	"Eeeuuuugh," Tara groaned. "I think this
stuff's crawling under my arms..."
	"Yeah," Willow said, a little short of
breath. "The Sandus demon's blood has a low-
level sentience. Don't worry, the water'll kill
it."
	"Good." Tara shivered. "Sorry if I was
rude to Buffy."
	"I'm sure she understands. I was kinda
sharp myself."
	"It's just, the whole crawly thing..."
She shuddered again.
	"Mmmm." Willow turned away. She grabbed a
bottle of shampoo and poured a large amount of
it into her hair. She began to massage it into
her scalp, feeling the Sandus blood shrink away
from it.
	"Missed a spot," Tara said. "Let me."
Willow jumped to feel Tara's hands on her
head; then she sighed as her friend began to
wash her hair. It was the oddest feeling; she
was tense, excited and relaxed all at once.
	"You wanna do me now?" Tara asked.
	"What?" Willow squeaked.
	"My hair."
	"Oh! Your hair. Uh...yeah, sure, if you
just wanna turn around..."
	Tara turned her back to Willow. Willow
took a deep breath, closed her eyes and turned
around. She felt around, found Tara's head.
	"Willow?"
	"Yes?"
	"Um...are you doing this with your eyes
closed?"
	"...No."
	"Ah." Brief pause. "If you are, you can
open your eyes. It's okay."
	"I know!"
	"'Cause, you know, we're both adults.
We're just a couple of friends helping each
other out."
	"Right."
	"I mean, I had my eyes open--"
	"All right, all right, I'll open my
eyes!" Willow did so and looked at her friend.
	Tara stood with her back to Willow. She
looked at Willow over her shoulder, her
expression unreadable.
	"Okay," Willow said. "Turn around."
	Tara smiled slightly and faced ahead of
her. Willow poured some shampoo into her hand
and began to rub it into Tara's hair. She was
suddenly very aware of how close they were; the
heat from their bodies was adding to the heat
of the water. Her breasts brushed against
Tara's back, a sweet teasing movement.
	"That feels nice," Tara murmured. Willow
didn't ask what she meant; she wasn't sure she
wanted to know.
	"Thanks," she replied quietly.
	"I'm sorry if this makes you
uncomfortable."
	"No, it's fine," Willow said. "Really. I
do this all the time. Shower, that is. I mean,
generally, I'm alone..."
	"There's really no reason to be nervous."
	"I'm not nervous!"
	"Um...yes, you are."
	"All right, so I am," Willow said, trying
to concentrate on the Sandus stuff that was
trying to hide on the back of Tara's neck.
"This is just a little more naked than I like
to get with most people." She smiled. "Not that
it's unpleasant or anything..."
	Tara looked over her shoulder and smiled,
blushing.
	"I'm enjoying it."
	"Uh...I think that's the last of it,"
Willow said.
	"So can we get out?"
	"No," Willow replied. "We've been in for
about ten minutes, and according to Giles, we
need a good hour in here to make sure the
blood's completely dead."
	"Oh." Tara turned around, and for the
first time, they looked at each other, face to
face, body to body. Willow fought the urge to
cover herself. "So what are we going to do the
rest of the time?"
	"Uh..." Willow faltered. "I know some
riddles..."
	Tara laughed and looked down.
	"Did anyone ever tell you you have really
pretty feet?" she asked.
	"I can honestly say they have not,"
Willow replied, smiling.
	"Well, they, um. Are."
	"Thank you. And you, uh, you have nice
legs. I never would have guessed."
	"Th-thanks," Tara stuttered out. Both of
them avoided each other's eyes, and yet found
themselves sneaking glances at each other's
bodies.
	"Hey," Willow said, noticing something on
her shoulder. "You've got, um..."
	Tara looked and yelped to see a growing
patch of green on her shoulder.
	"Quick!" Willow shouted. "Get all the way
under the water!"
	They both huddled together under the hot
spray, scrubbing at each other, their
awkwardness momentarily forgotten.
	"I think there's some on your back--"
	"Your ears! It's behind your ears!"
	"No, wait, it's okay, the water's washing
it off..."
	"Ha! Take that!" Tara glowed triumphantly
as the last of the goo faded under the water.
	They were standing very close together
now.
	"We'd, um, better stay close," Willow
said. "Make sure it's all dead."
	"Uh huh," Tara replied. "Can I just..."
She carefully put her arms around Willow's
waist. Willow's heart quickened its pace again.
	"Sure," she said. She wrapped her arms
around Tara. They held each other beneath the
water.
	For a long moment, they looked into each
other's eyes, not moving, barely breathing.
Then Tara moved forward and kissed her.
	"Thanks," she said, her face incredibly
crimson. "For taking care of me."
	Willow kissed her back.
	"You're welcome," she said, and then they
were kissing again, holding on to each other
tight, their hands moving up and down one
another's backs. Willow felt lost in the kiss,
and yet she felt completely safe, safer than
she had felt in months. It felt so wonderful to
let everything go and just be. Be in the
moment. Be naked, physiclly, emotionally.
	She ran her fingers through the wet
tangles of Tara's hair, holding the back of
her head and kissing her furiously. Tara's
hands drifted up and down, up to her shoulder
blades, then traveling down to the small of her
back, then below waist level to her--
	"Guys?" Buffy yelled through the door of
the bathroom. "You okay?"
	It took them a moment to realize that
someone was talking to them.
	"Fine," Willow called out.
	"Great!" Tara added.
	"Uh...okay. I've got a couple of robes
out here for you when you're ready."
	"Might be a while," Willow said, trying
not to gasp as Tara kissed her way down her
neck. "You know...Sandus blood..."
	"Nasty stuff," Tara called out. "Better
be sure."
	"Okay," Buffy said. "I'll be waiting."
	"Uh huh." Willow waited until she heard
the door close before looking at her friend and
giggling. "Wow," she said.
	"Mmmm," Tara mmmed.
	"We should probably get out."
	"I dunno," Tara said, looking at her.
"Sandus blood is nasty stuff..."
	"You're right," Willow hastily agreed.
"Better safe than sorry." 

*** 

	By the time she finally returned to the
room she shared with Buffy, Willow's skin and
hair were roughly the same color. Buffy looked
at her, smirking.
	"I feel like a lobster," Willow remarked.
	"Yeah, I'm a little hungry too," Buffy
replied. Her smirk grew wider.
	"What? What's with the smirky look?"
	"Oh, nothing," Buffy said. "It's just
that when I went to bring you guys the robes, I
happened to notice something..."
	"Oh?" Willow replied, doing her best
impression of someone who hadn't spent the last
hour and a half making out with one of her
friends in a shower.
	"No one was in the other showers."
	The silence which followed was quite
long.
	"Are you sure?" Willow finally asked. "I
mean, it was very steamy in there..."
	"Oh, I'll bet it was. No, what tipped me
off was that the curtains were all thrown open,
almost as though someone had been in each one
and found it not working. So I took the liberty
of checking..."
	"Aren't you conscientious."
	"...and found that they were not, in
fact, working." Buffy's smirk became a full-
fledged grin. "So..."
	"Yyyyyyes?" Willow asked.
	"Anything you want to tell me?"
	"Not particularly."
	"Aw, come on, Will! I could never
convince Riley to shower with me! He doesn't
even watch me get dressed!"
	"What can I say, Buffy?" Willow said,
shrugging. "I'm a very clean person."
	"Uh huh. So do we have any soap left?"
	"Uh...no. We kinda used it all up." She
shrugged again. "We're both very clean
people."

All of this is copyright Joss Whedon, except the stuff that isn't.