A Little Light Petting

by Ambyrhawke Shadowsinger

Copyright © May 2004

ambyrhawke@yahoo.com

Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: All characters belong to Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, etc. and the Watchers staff. No compensation is received by me.
Distribution: Watchers: /thewatcherscouncil.net and Mystic Muse /mysticmuse.net
Ambyrhawke's Ananda: /ambyrhawke.com
Feedback: Just ask, and I'll say yes.
Spoilers: Watchers Episode: Child's Play.
Author's Notes: Someone on the Watcher's forum wondered about how Rowena's nail would be healed. This vignette starts during "Child's Play" just after Rowena caresses Willow's cheek and bolts, AGAIN! The part in italics at the beginning is a direct quote from "Child's Play" used to set the stage for the vignette.
Pairing: Willow/Rowena

"Ro," Willow began, "I wanted to thank you for finding Amy."

"Don't thank me. It was just something I had to do."

"I appreciate it. I do. But ya know something?" Willow stopped. "You're an idiot."

Rowena stopped in mid-step and turned back to see Willow with her hands on her hips and looking very cross.

Rowena stood, her mouth open in surprise. "What? Why are you angry?"

Willow shook her head. "To quote Giles, it was 'profoundly stupid.' I mean, going after Amy alone like that could have gotten you killed, or worse."

"I didn't think there were worse things than being dead," Rowena tried to joke.

"There are and Amy could have very well inflicted them."

Rowena held up her hands. "I wasn't alone. Brell and Robin and Kennedy were…"

"In no position to help you! They told me what happened."

Rowena thought about that for a moment. "You're right," she nodded slowly at the witch. "I realize that what I did was pretty foolhardy…"

"Hardy har-har," Willow mocked, lamely.

"And if I had it to do over again, hindsight being twenty-twenty, I'd…" Rowena looked Willow in the eye. A gentle smile spread over the Watcher's face and she took a few steps closer. Tentatively, her good hand reached up and the back of her fingers stroked Willow's cheek for a moment. "Who am I kidding? I'd do exactly the same thing."

Shaking her head, Willow turned around and walked down the hall the way she, Xander and Rowena had just come. Within a few steps she came to a stop, glancing over her shoulder. Her forehead crinkled as she looked in both directions trying to decide which way to go. Finally nodding and squaring her shoulders, Willow went to find Rowena.

Upon entering the lobby, Willow saw Rowena standing near the front desk with her good hand raised to her head. The Canadian rubbed her eyes as if trying to wipe an image out of her mind. She jumped and turned at the feel of a hand on her arm. "Willow," the older watcher darted a glance around the room looking for an escape.

"Your finger."

Rowena looked back at Willow, "Huh?"

The redhead pointed at the injured finger, "Your finger. I can fix it for you. The part under your cuticle is gonna be hard to keep clean, and if it gets infected, it will be that much longer for it to heal." Rowena looked at her finger, slightly wincing at the prospect of cleaning an infected nail bed. "Besides, it must hurt."

"I can cope with it."

Willow snorted, "Yeah, that's why you practically shot through the ceiling when the dog nudged your hand a few minutes ago." Her expression softened, "Ro, you can favor that hand all you want, but do you really think you can keep it from getting hit for the next three months while training with Kennedy or out on patrol? Let me help you."

"When you put it that way…okay," Rowena sighed and let Willow lead her to the recreation room.

They sat at a table out on the porch and Willow turned to the other watcher. "Okay, give me your hand. We'll do it just like the time with your arm." Willow cradled Rowena's right hand between her own and closed her eyes. The blonde took a breath and followed suit.

The women sat still for a few moments meditating, but the longer Rowena sat still, the more she felt the warmth of Willow's skin touching hers. She opened her eyes and stared at their hands, studying the shape of the witch's fingers and the latticework of veins under her skin. Soon she lifted her gaze to Willow's face. She watched the sunlight and soft breeze play with wisps of red hair. Her lips curved in a small smile as she looked at the freckles sprinkled across the younger woman's skin. Rowena's mother used to tell her that each freckle marked the place where a faery had kissed her as a baby.

Rowena closed her eyes to try meditating again, but a moment later, she found herself once more looking at Willow's face. This time her eyes slid to the curve of her lips.

Willow's eyes shot open in confusion when she felt Rowena pull her hand out of her grasp, "I-I'm sorry; this isn't working."

"Ro, what's wrong?"

The watcher shook her head in frustration, "I just can't do this. I can't…I can't concentrate!" Her eyes widened slightly and she quickly added, "I've been up since yesterday, and…Look, thank you for helping, but let's just forget it. I'll be ok."

Rowena moved to get up, but Willow quickly grabbed her arm to keep her from leaving, "Ro, wait! You're exhausted, and I didn't think about that. I'm more wiped out than I realized, too. I doubt either of us could meditate right now if our lives depended on it."

Reluctantly settling back down, Rowena muttered, "I sure couldn't."

Willow pressed her case, "That doesn't mean we have to toss out the idea. How about we do this tomorrow after we've both gotten a full night's sleep?"

The blonde sat quietly for a few moments before agreeing, "Yeah, sleep sounds good. I can't even think straight right now."

Willow briefly patted Rowena's knee and gave her a small dose of resolve face, "Don't you leave. I'll be right back."

Curious, Rowena turned to watch Willow go inside and dig around behind the kitchenette bar. She returned with a few supplies from the first aid kit and motioned for Rowena's hand, "We can at least put a Band-Aid on for now to keep it clean. And look, no meditation required."

Rowena chuckled, "So I see. Umm, Will, I can understand the bandage, but isn't the finger splint a bit much?"

The witch gave a long-suffering sigh as she fitted the splint, "Genius is never understood." Sliding the splint back off and offering it to Rowena, she explained, "This is for when you go to bed. What's the use of getting sleep if you wake up every time you hit your finger, hmmm?"

Rowena slapped her cheek, jaw agape. "That's an amazing idea! You're such a genius!" she squealed.

Willow rolled her eyes at the watcher's teasing, "I'm glad you noticed. You'll thank me in the morning."

"I'm sure I will," Rowena replied sincerely.

Willow stood up and yawned a little, "Ok, I'm going to go take a nap before Ethan leaves. Oh, how about I stop by before breakfast to fix that? You never know if something will come up during breakfast around here."

"That will be fine, thanks." As Willow waved and left, Rowena leaned back in her chair to soak up the sun for a few moments. Taking a breath, she opened her eyes and slowly pushed herself to her feet, "I had better go take a nap as well before I get a stiff neck in that chair."

The next morning, there was a knock at Rowena's door. "Just a minute!" the watcher called out as she finished washing her hands. She ran her good hand through her hair as she got to the door and opened it, "Good morning, Willow. Come in."

"Morning, Ro. How's the patient?"

"Well rested, thank goodness." Rowena closed the door and walked over to Willow who was sitting on the sofa. "Are you hungry?"

"Getting there, but don't worry. The sooner we start here, the sooner we can eat." Willow patted the cushion next to her. Once Rowena settled down, Willow took her hand, "Are you ready?"

Nodding, Rowena closed her eyes and took a breath. Soon she felt the witch's hands warming up and a thumb softly stroking the top of her injured finger. She relaxed into the sensation and felt Willow adjust herself on the sofa. Then she gasped at the feel of Willow's lips brushing her jaw and working their way down the side of her neck. She arched her neck toward the sensations, but then her brain realized what was going on and she pulled back in a panic, "What are you doing?"

Willow smiled mysteriously, "Fixing the nail only requires a little light petting, but I threw in some necking, too. After all, I'm getting hungry and today there will be thunderstorms."

Rowena tried to bolt and nearly fell down in a tangle of sheets. "…high will be 73. Tomorrow we'll have more scattered thunderstorms with a high of 69 and low of 49."

"Oh God," Rowena put her head in her hands and attempted to catch her breath as the radio forecast droned on, "what's going on with me?" Reaching over to turn off the alarm, she noticed the time, "Shit! How did I sleep through that?"

Jumping into the shower, Rowena turned on the water and yelped at the shock of cold hitting her bed-warmed skin, "Yeow! Never did understand polar bears."

Ten minutes later, Rowena was quickly drying her body when she heard a knock at the front door. "Perfect," she groaned then raised her voice, "Just a minute!"

With a shirt slung over her shoulder, a naked Rowena hopped out of her bedroom on one foot while trying to get the other in the correct leg hole of the shorts. Reaching the door, she pulled the loose shirt on and glanced at her chest, "Thank you, Mom, for giving me your perky breasts. I couldn't do this if I took after Dad's side of the family."

Rowena opened the door while pushing her curls out of her eyes, "Good morning, Willow."

"Morning, Ro!" Willow's bright smile became a bit worried when she saw how wet the woman's hair still was, "Did I come too early?" Glancing down, she noticed the woman wasn't wearing a bra and quickly snapped her gaze away, "I-I can come back in a bit if you need…"

"No, no, come on in," missing Willow's wandering gaze, Rowena waved her guest inside, "I just overslept. I think that splint might have worked too well because I could have used hitting my finger about forty minutes ago."

"You were making up for two nights of sleep."

"True. Would you like some coffee, tea, whatever?"

"Is it better than your oatmeal?" Willow smirked.

"Hey, I'm not used to instant oatmeal! Besides, you get kicked out of England if you can't make a proper pot of tea within six months of moving there." Rowena pouted slightly, "But if you don't trust me…"

Willow brow creased and she whimpered, "That's not fair! Using pouty lips to get your way."

"Did it work?"

"Yes," Willow harrumphed. She pointed at the blonde, "But I'll have you know I was going to let you make tea anyways. Something non-caffeinated though, please."

"Coming right up!" Willow watched Rowena work in the kitchen then step onto the balcony for something. She placed two mugs of tea and a bottle of honey on the coffee table and settled on the sofa beside her guest, "I nuked the water this time so we can go get breakfast before Faith eats it all."

"Good idea. Neat, I never thought of putting a sprig of mint directly in the cup," Willow looked into the mugs and sniffed appreciatively before taking a sip. "Mmmm, this is wonderful! What kind is it; it tastes like those Thin Mints that the Girl Scouts sell."

"That's why it's called chocolate mint. It took a while to find a place that sells it here."

When they finished the tea, Willow settled in facing Rowena, "Thanks for the tea. Now, are you ready to get your nail fixed?"

Rowena got nervous, but swallowed hard and turned to the witch. "Sure," her voice cracked, and she cleared her throat, "ready."

Taking Rowena's hand in hers, Willow frowned slightly. She shook the hand from side to side, "Hey, relax a little! It won't hurt…maybe itch a bit." Trying to lighten the mood, she added with a smile, "It's not like we have to make love to re-grow your nail."

Rowena's head shot up and met Willow's gaze briefly, "Right! Of course not. I just…remembered how it felt when you fixed my arm."

"Worried that it'll be distracting?"

"Something like that," Rowena murmured.

Willow gave her hand a squeeze, "You'll do fine. Now come on before Faith eats all the food." Willow closed her eyes and started concentrating on the missing nail, and Rowena joined her.

The watcher felt the warmth of the energy flowing from Willow's hands and relaxed into it. When the nail began growing, her finger twitched from the slight burn. Willow's thumb caressed the base of her finger until the spasm worked itself out. Rowena felt a small squeeze of encouragement before the hands cradling hers went still again until the next time a spasm occurred.

After twenty minutes, Willow took a deep breath and slowly opened her eyes. She looked down to see a new nail covering Rowena's finger, "All done."

Rowena opened her eyes and smiled at the sight of the nail, "Thank you." Two stomachs growled in unison. "Uh-oh, it sounds like we're being given an ultimatum," Rowena chuckled.

Willow glanced at the clock, "We'd better hurry. Chez Andrew is about to stop serving breakfast."

Rowena got up and headed toward her bedroom, "I'll tell you what. Let me get dressed and we can go out for pancakes. My treat."

"Ooh, you're on!" Willow took the mugs into the kitchen and washed them up while she waited.

The End

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