True Faith

Hey, check it out! As of this chapter, I now know what this story’s doing. I have found the plot!

(Yes, I’m sure you’re as excited about this as I am. Maybe more!)


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The rain slackened off around nightfall, and Tru and Buffy were still in the teashop, four empty glasses of bubble tea in front of them. Tru glanced at her watch and saw that she still had a few hours to kill before work. It looked like sleep was not going to be an option, though she would probably doze in Davis' office if there were no bodies brought in.

"So, um...would you like to go for dinner?" Buffy was staring out the window at ing,ing, pretending to be casual, but Tru could tell she was worried about being shot down. Was she talking about a date, or just a meal?

"Sure," Tru said. "Chinese? I know a place..."

Buffy looked back at her and smiled, a real, genuine, thousand-watt grin. "Chinese. Yeah. That would be great."

Tru smiled back--she couldn't help but answer that look of happiness on Buffy's face. So maybe it was a date. But she'd been enjoying herself this far. So who cared?

They took a cab to Chinatown, and Tru led the way to a small, out of the way restaurant that she'd discovered during her second year at UBC. They were seated quickly, and Buffy ordered enough food to feed an army. Tru had no idea how the two of them were going to finish it all.

While they waited, Buffy picked up a chopstick and started twirling it between her fingers, making intricate patterns and never once dropping it. Tru raised her eyebrows, impressed. "Where did you learn to do that?" she asked.

"Hmm?" Buffy looked at her, the chopstick still whirling madly in her hand. She followed Tru's gaze and stopped immediately. "Oh...high school. I was on the cheerleading squad. Baton, you know."

"You cheerlead?" Tru took a moment to imagine Buffy in a skimpy cheerleading outfit. It wasn't horrible. "Is that where all the upper body strength comes from?"

Buffy shrugged, then leaned back as the waitress placed their dishes in front of them. "I work out a lot...tae kwon doe, kickboxing, that sort of thing." She started shoveling huge quantities of food onto her rice.

"Wow," Tru said, and didn't know whether she meant the sports or the pace at which Buffy devoured her food. Obviously her slender build came more from athletics and metabolism than from undereating.

As they continued the meal, Tru was trying harder and harder to figure out if shs ons on a date. And, if she was, whether that's what she wanted. And, if it was, then whether Buffy really liked her, or just the face of her friend in Cleveland. They were nearly finished eating, and Tru was trying to decide if she should panic about what came next, when her cell phone started ringing.

"Sorry," she said to Buffy, then dug through her bag and pulled it out. "Hello?"

"Tru, I-I think you'd better come in early tonight." Davis' voice stuttered on the other ef thf the li
T
Tru glanced at Buffy, who raised an eyebrow at her, then looked back at her food as if to give her some privacy. "Davis--" Tru suppressed the whiny three-year-old part of her that wanted to whine and throw a tantrum. "I'm on a--" She stopped before the word date slipped out; she knew Buffy was listening, no matter how hard she was staring at her szechuan noodles, and really, Tru had no clue if this was even supposed to be a romantic dinner or just a "Hey! Vacation! Chinatown!" thing. "I'm on at midnight," she finished lamely.

"Gardan's got multiple pickups to make, all from the same area..." Davis said, then whispered, "Tru, I think they might need your help."

Tru frowned. She could just picture Davis, hunched over the phone in the empty morgue, whispering because it was dramatic, or because even when he was alone with the corpses he feared giving away her secret. She wasn't sure whether it was creepy or endearing that when Davis had dead people around, he was never alone. "They'll still be dead when I get there," she said. "If anyone needs me, they can ask then."

"We don't know that," Davis said. "There could be a window of opportunity...a threshold, after which there is truly no return..."

"Davis." Tru stopped him. Once he started into philosophy, it took a while to calm him down. "I thought you said fate was immutable?"

"Is it that good a date?" Davis asked wistfully.

"It's not--I mean, we're...I'm just in the middle of dinner," she said.

Davis heaved a sigh on the other end of the phone. "I thought you and Luc were on a break?"

"Are you going to keep asking questions until I agree to come down there?"

"Do you think it'll work?"

Tru rolled her eyes. "Goodbye, Davis." She snapped her phone shut and returned it to her bag.

"Let me guess--work?" Buffy said. She fiddled with her Seven Precious Jewels, separating all the cashews from the rest of the dish.

"Yeah, I'm really sorry...it looks like I'm going to have to run out on you." Tru wanted to punch something. If this was a date, it was the best one she'd had since her first night at the morgue...and, really, for quite a while before then, too. All things considered, it was a minor miracle that the day had gone this far without the jangle of her cell phone calling her away. "Let me get the cheque--"

"No, it's okay, look, I'm on vacation. Extravagant meals are part of the package. I'm feeling a bit of a tingle, it's about the first time in three years that I'm able to get all splurgy." Buffy pushed her dish away.

"If you're not finished--"

Buffy shook her head. "Actually..." She trailed off.

Tru signaled the waitress. "Actually, what?"

"Well, I...had a really good time today. Um." Buffy smiled at the tablecloth. "Okay, this is going to sound weird."

Tru waited.

"Can I come to the morgue with you?" It came outlly lly fast, all one big word.

"You're kidding."

Buffy looked up. "Nope. Trust me, dead people don't bother me, if you're worried. And, I--uh, mostly, I don't want to lose my guide. Big town, small Buffy. You know?"

"I guess I do," Tru said. She wants to go to the morgue because of me. Best date ever...if it is a date. At least if I had run out on her it wouldn't matter if it was a date or not, but now...I'll be at work, she'll have to do lea leaving, so what will she say? She's in town for a week...maybe I can get her phone number. Oh, God, I'm turning into Harri. "Okay, if you're sure."

"Yeah." Buffy picked up the cheque and gave her the first choice of fortune cookies.

The slip of paper inside her cookie said, "Strangers entering your life make for interesting bedfellows."

It was probably a date.


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Yep, this is cool. I bet I can write two or three more bits tonight. I type quickly with my dextrous fingers. Does that turn you on?