Hiraeth (pronounced [hiraɪ̯θ])

    AUTHOR: kerk hiraeth

    FANDOM: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (FemaleHusband!verse)

    CHARACTER: Buffy Summers 

    LENGTH: 300,

   RATING: PG-13,

   A/N: This is set some time after the setting up of Slayer HQ (around 2005) and the time the first of the various Slayer facilities started becoming operational (between late 2006 and the summer of 2008), with the facilities in Tibet & Scotland mentioned.

           The title originates with one of the episodes of Jet Wolf's Buffy continuation where Kennedy & Tara are on a road trip; discovering a mixtape of Tara's, and also discovering that Tara's music taste is far removed from what she assumed. It's also the fourth, or fifth, different title that I considered and, quite literally, decided upon when I was looking for the final line.

           I was trying to find the landing for this story and, from somewhere in my head, this song popped into my head. Given that the, original, two paragraphs were about Tara & Buffy's Moms; 2Pac's Dear Mama www.youtube.com/watch not only reduced that to a single line, but also gave me my title.

      Shonen Knife were playing in her ears as she made her spidery notes in the margins of reports; drinking the Jamaican Mountain Blue, sent her by Kendra's old watcher. A bottle of Japanese Whisky was on it's way in reciprocation.

   She smiled behind her cup; knowing full well they were commenting.

   She didn't need to hear them.

    ~~~

   The table, both private and public; peaceful as the old library making love to the Espresso Pump at midnight, was a tiny alcove in the never quiet commissary.

   Making herself a cup of tea; sent from the Tibetan facility by Oz, she started reading the training reports; much easier task now that the Slayers trained by Giles and Olivia were in charge of typing them up.

   She smirked at the highly inappropriate lyrics TLC were uttering.

    ~~~

   Her belly warmed satisfactorily by some deliciously spicy Solangon chicken soup; prepared by their brand new Filipina Watcher-cum-Chef, she relaxed with some Korean desserts; Japanese sodas; sent her by Satsu, and a gorgeous ice cream made by an old friend, and fellow refugee from Sunnydale, she began looking over the names of Slayers who had passed their...

   The Junior Slayers insisted on calling it Cruciamentum

   … except these kids were over eighteen; returning from deserved vacations, and needing to be assigned.

   And nobody had died.

   She liked the sound of that.

   After pencilling in a couple of names Buffy rose; deciding she needed some more tea. As the water boiled she relaxed by reading the label on the mixtape Tara had given her; some eighties Japanese band was doing a Doors cover.

   ''That'll Show-ya.'' Chuckling at the thought of Satsu's groan when she heard her chief's terrible joke she returned to the table with the hot water.

    ~~~

   As the fates were wont to do, just as Buffy was about to start on the progress reports for the trainees, the authors returned from a night out; Kennedy, who was leaving for Scotland in the morning, came in to the Commissary and, spotting her, stopped Vi and Rona from invading her personal sanctuary.

   Feeling an uncharacteristic warmth for the woman they were all convinced would have succeeded Faith, Buffy opened up the report folder again.

   Just then 2Pac turned up as the last artist on the mixtape.

   She grinned and shook her head at Tara's amazingly unpredictable musical taste.

   Buffy slowly made a silent, and invisible, toast her Mom.

     May the Goddess watch over you and those you love in these dark time,

     kerk hiraeth 
 

     AUTHOR: kerk_hiraeth

     FANDOM: Buffy the Vampire Slayer

     LENGTH: 350;

    CHARACTERS(s): Lisa; Dawn Summers;

    'SHIP(s): Dawn/Lisa;

    SUMMARY: Lisa is a semi-fanatical Earper, but the love of her life hates anything fictional about the Supernatural, until she comes up with a way to distract Dawn on the anniversary of her Mom's death. Given the dates; this is therefore set in a couple of months time.

    A/N: Listening to music videos to spark ideas, a song written and performed by Dominique Provost-Chalkley finally lit the touch paper. Lift Your Spirit Up; written for 2019's Seasons of Love, made me think of one partner (Lisa, Dawn's friend from The Body) trying to lift the spirits of her significant other up. The creator's role in Wynonna Earp and my joyful, and sometimes very tearful, reactions to the many reaction videos to the Wayhaught reunion scenes in S4, Ep2; Friends in Low Places, woke my muse from a long slumber (I am convinced she is at the very least bisexual; possibly trans, and also very possibly lesbian).

    I have also no doubt she is obsessed with Wayhaught.

    So this is dedicated to Dominique Provost-Chalkley; Katherine Barrell and Emily Andras, but also very much to all the Earpers; especially Wayhaught fans, who saved their show where Firefly fans failed; not that I would want to change the magic that was the one season we got but I feel so much joy in what they are experiencing right now.

    This is for you ~ and I swear before the Goddess that the song listed was playing when I was finishing this post ( though it did change before I could press post).

     “A show about Demons? Seriously?”

   Her Dawnie's voice was cracking a little; never voiced, today was always a reminder of how much she missed her Mom. Lisa never knew her own; never actually met Dawnie's either, but she felt both losses today more than any other.

   “Because I love it?”

   Dawn glowered; swore under her breath, but gave away her inner glow that betrayed how much she loved her Reflection. Everything one liked the other liked the opposite, and they loved each other all the more for it. They shared as much too, but they loved to find things to surprise and challenge each other.

   At the smirk on her face her Dawnie gave Lisa the finger.

   Lisa grinned; she had her. More than anything else her Dawnie needed distractions today and, in nearly twenty years together she had become a Jedi Master at picking exactly what her Dawnie needed on this anniversary of anniversaries.

   The kids were off with Slayers and their kids; they had the apartment, and bedroom, all to themselves.

   Lisa started the episode she had handpicked for tonight; no point trying to get Dawnie to watch the whole series; that was never going to happen, maybe binge watching fanvids, but not whole episodes.

   Might as well try to get her to watch a movie about Vampire Slayers. Lisa almost snorted her drink at the mere thought of trying that one.

   Of course Dawnie whined the whole time...

   Until Nicole Haught and Waverly Earp were reunited, and never made it to the bedroom.

   Even Lisa, who must have watched this a dozen times, was overcome by the Wayhaught reunion.

   They could almost feel each other's hearts beating faster as they stared, totally oblivious to the rest of the episode.

   They were speechless; their breathing audible, even over the end titles and they glistened with sweat.

   Five minutes after the screen slipped to powersave they had still barely moved.

   Slowly Lisa reached to turn the device off properly.

   “So, “ she hissed, “Bedroom?”

   Dawnie stared at her as if she had gone insane.

   “Wishing we had some stairs?”

   Dawnie managed to croak, “Uh huh... “

   At least they had a floor.

     Goddess watch over us all,

     kerk

   Now in my

   heart I

   see clearly

   a beautiful

   face

   shining back on me,

   stained

   with love

                     - Sappho