Archive of Our Own ^beta

Willow sighed as she looked at the fish in the tank. It sat there and bobbed back and forth, beautiful and lethal. If her candle was lit, she could see the monster she already knew was there. She turned and left the room. Tomorrow, when the party began, she would fix this. She would get rid of that nightmare whether Bonde wanted it gone or not. It was for the best. Passing through her room, she entered the hallway with the plan to go stand on the second floor hallway and look out into the garden. Unfortunately, she never made it. She was stopped by a certain blonde, southern siren.
“Willow dear! How are you doing today?” Tequila asked. Willow could certainly hear why she was a singer. Her voice sounded melodic even when she was speaking.
“I’m doing well. Looking forward to a nice, relaxing party.” Willow said, pushing the second sentence through her teeth. It was true, she was looking forward to one. But odds are she wouldn’t get one. “How about you? Ready for the show tomorrow?”
“Definitely!” Tequila replied, but Willow could feel some falseness to her cheer. She fixed the blonde with a look. Tequila knew the look well, and tried to blatantly deflect the inevitable question with a hurried “How about those masks he’s making us wear, huh? It’s not like we don’t already know each other.”
“Tequila.” Willow calmly stated. “Don’t lie. It doesn’t work on me. What’s bothering you?”
Tequila sighed and shook her head, chuckling to herself. “No one could ever put one past you, huh? It’s all that voodoo.”
“Maybe. Stop trying to change the subject.”
“…I’ve been having these nightmares lately. Horrible things. About me, my family, the party, it all goes wrong. It’s…god Willow it’s horrible. Why? Why do we have to have nightmares?”
“I think I could fathom a guess.” Willow muttered, casting a caustic glare towards her room. “Maybe it’s just your room.” She said to Tequila. “You should try another one.”
“I can’t though! This one is closest to the stage. You know I like to be near the stage.”
Willow grinned and replied “You like to be ON the stage. I’m surprised you haven’t asked Bonde to put a bed on it for you!”
“Ooh! Why didn’t I think of that? Oh Bonde! Bonde!” Tequila replied, and the women dissolved into a fit of giggles, there were even happy tears coming out of their eyes. As soon as the mirth cleared up, Willow could feel the question bubbling inside her, begging to be let out. And maybe it was the stress of the Demon, or the euphoria she was still riding high on, but she didn’t try as hard as she usually did to catch it in time, and it slipped out.
“You could stay in my room, if that’s Ok with you?”
Tequila just stared at her, and Willow felt her the blush start to form on her face. God, why couldn’t she be wearing that stupid mask now? “Sorry. I dropped that on you too fast. We can prete-”
“Yes!” Tequila exclaimed, cutting off Willow’s impending rambling (thank God. That would have been embarrassing).
“Yes?”
“Yes! I’d love too!”
“Uh, Ok. Is there anything you need to move in? I can get it.”
“No need! I have to go to practice for the show. We can get it later.”
“Ok.”
Tequila turned and made her way to the door at the end of the hall. Stopping on the threshold, she turned and called back over her shoulder “See you tonight Willow!”
“See you tonight.” Willow replied, but only the door heard.

“Wow Wil. You certainly have a…macabre taste.” Tequila said, her gaze shifting around the room, taking in the dark colors, skulls everywhere, and specially made desk with yet another skull.
“I suppose.” Willow replied, trying not to stare too hard as Tequila spread out on her bed like a cat, her nightshirt riding dangerously high. From a few rooms away, she heard a deep, unsettling chuckle. Shaking it out of her head, she said “Well, you have a good night Tequila. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Wait! Where are you going?” Tequila asked, stopping Willow’s moves to the door.
“Oh, I haven’t been sleeping much lately. I didn’t want to disturb you.”
“That just won’t do! You come back here.”
“Tequila…”
“I’ll sing you a lullaby.”
Most adults would laugh at the absurdity of this statement. But this was Tequila Belle, whose voice could make stone cry.
“Please Wil. For me?”
Aw damn. That sealed the deal. Sighing, Willow took her hand off the doorknob and made her way over to the bed. “You know that’s cheating, right? No one can say no to that voice of yours.”
“I prefer to think of it as ‘using the tools I was provided.’” Tequila replied, holding up the covers for Willow to get under.
To be fair, it was the best night of rest she got since she arrived at the Sexy Brutale.

But not without it’s caveats. She was awoken in the middle of the night by tossing and turning. And it wasn’t hers. Looking over to her side, she saw Tequila’s face scrunched in anguish and pain, her arms flailing weakly under the heavy blankets. “Tequila. Tequila!” Willow said, shaking Tequila’s shoulder in an attempt to wake her. When she awoke, the look of fear in her eyes would haunt Willow for the rest of her life. And she did not take that word lightly.
“I’m sorry Tequila. I guess maybe it wasn’t your room.”
“No no! It’s fine. That was…that was just a normal nightmare.” Tequila answered shakily, wiping a tear out of her eye.
“Are you Ok?” Willow asked, grabbing a tissue from her nightstand and handing it over, Tequila blowing her nose and tossing it at the trashcan. It missed by a few inches. She moved the covers to go get it, but Willow gently stopped her and shook her head.
“Yeah. I’m Ok. It’s just…it’s just not easy growing up gay in the south, ya know?” Tequila said, eyes set firmly on the cover still in her hand.
Willow was stunned, but forced herself to get over it. Waiting too long to reply would convey a message that definitely wasn’t right. “I can only imagine.” she replied, placing her hand on the back of Tequila’s.
“Please don’t.” Tequila muttered. “I’m Ok now. Thank you Wil.”
Willow nodded and withdrew her hand, laying down to rest again. But before she could drift off, she heard the unmistakable noise of a sob from the other side of the bed. Willow, gathering all her courage, gently draped her arm over Tequila’s waist. For an eternal three seconds, neither of them moved. Time may well have stopped. But then Tequila shuffled herself back into Willow’s imbrace, pressing the two together lightly.
They didn’t talk about it.
They never got the chance.