Unbury Your Gays

“Hi Alice.” Kade waved awkwardly from across the room. The reconstruction of Alice’s apartment in her Otherwhere was basically perfect. On the kitchen bench were stacked canned goods, bottles of vodka and several packs of candles.

“Hi, Kade,” Alice frowned. “What’s going on? Didn’t you just leave with Liv and Faith?” Alice was standing by the kitchen bench, fishing a teabag out of a cup. Steam rose from it, the candlelight strobing lazily through it as it ascended.

“Oh, I’m just…trying something out before I go,” Kade muttered distractedly, making her way over to the window. Pulling back the curtain, she could see Brisbane City burning. “Okay, can you tell me something I wouldn’t know about you?”

“How do you mean?” Alice walked back to the couch, slowly sitting down, clutching her mug of tea in both hands.

“Like a memory or an experience that you haven’t mentioned before? Something with a little bit of detail to it would be best, if you can.” Kade clarified, walking her way over to the couch and sitting across from her.

“Like a childhood memory?”

“No, it’d need to be something from after we diverged. Something that I definitely wouldn’t have gone through myself.”

“Why?”

“Could you just…y’know…humour me?” Kade shrugged.

“Okay, well…I guess there’s the first time Faith and I met. I’m sure I haven’t mentioned that.”

“That’d be perfect.”

“Okay. I mean, I love this story, so…why not?” Alice smiled to herself, carefully taking a tentative little sip from her mug. “I was out at South Bank with some uni friends. We’d gone to a couple of those little bars on Grey Street. I was a bit tipsy. It was one of those hot summer evenings. Really humid. I remember because I was sweating through my shirt, and I was feeling really uncomfortable about it. It’s a little embarrassing to think about it in general: I always wore these baggy, long-sleeved shirts back then - even in the middle of summer - and I still had my hair short. And I was super awkward in general…I remember barely talking to any of the other people who were there the whole afternoon. I felt her before I saw her. Like…hairs standing up on the back of my neck, feeling like there was a presence over my shoulder felt her. Uh…” Alice pause, considering: “Is this detailed enough?”

“It’s perfect. Go on.”

“So I turned around, and I immediately saw her, standing there in the entrance. Our eyes met and I just broke out into this big smile. I never used to smile, it felt wrong on my face back then…like the muscles weren’t built for it, y’know?”

“Yeah, I know exactly.”

“I got up, and I went over to her. It was like…there was no awkwardness or uncertainty. I didn’t feel like I was approaching a stranger at all. I felt like I was walking up to someone I’d known my entire life. And she was just looking at me with this little smirk, arms folded across her chest. She raises an eyebrow, and she’s smiling back at me, and she just says ‘So…who the fuck are you?’. And I immediately said, without even thinking about it…’Hi. I’m Alice’. It was the first time I’d ever said that name out loud, referring to myself. But I remember it so vividly - it’s crazy how clear a recollection I have of it in my mind - that she just cocked her head to the side and with this big, stupid grin was like ‘Well hey, Alice. Guess we’re through the looking glass, now. I’m Faith’. And I just…it’s so stupid. My brain immediately connected the dots to Faith from Buffy, and I just shrugged at her and said ‘Five-by-five’. That was the first time I heard her laugh.” Alice smiled to herself, tucking a few errant curls behind her ear. “Have you ever had just…a perfect moment? A little snapshot of time you never want to let go of?”

“I have.” Kade smiled. Alice nodded, taking another sip of her tea.

“So after that, we left the bar together and walked around South Bank for a few hours, talking about our lives…making up theories about the situation. We knew, we just knew that we were the same person. Like it wasn’t even a question. We talked about her transition, and about our pasts. And then she invited herself to stay at my place for a few days. No hesitation. I couldn’t have been happier to get a chance to spend some more time with her. And uh…honestly, thinking about it, we’ve barely been apart since. She goes back to her world, here and there, but she doesn’t really like it. She says there’s nothing for her there. I don’t push that. She says she’s happy and that’s literally all that I care about.”

“Fuck,” Kade sighed, sinking back into the couch. “That’s so fucking sweet I think you gave me Diabetes.”

“Was that uh…what you were looking for?” Alice asked, raising an eyebrow.

“No, yeah, that was exactly what I was wanting. Thank you. Just one other question, if that’s okay?”

“Sure.”

“Have you ever talked to Seven? Like do you remember meeting her, having a conversation with her?”

“No, never,” Alice shrugged.

“And this would be earlier in the night that it happened…” Kade mused, getting to her feet, rubbing her chin. “So this version of you is actually you. Not a figment: a real, actual version of you pulled out of the vibrations and into an Otherwhere. Just slightly earlier in your timeline. Which means, with Faith as well…” Kade trailed off, pacing as she rambled to herself: “Cause if I can, then why should I not? Hmm.”

“I…don’t understand?” Alice laughed nervously.

“No, it’s fine. Like it’s not fine, it’s completely crazy. I mean, everything in our lives is crazy but this is fucking…next level, ‘I believe trickle-down is good economic policy’ insane,” Kade inhaled sharply, pulling herself together. She paused, before looking over at Alice. “Hey. Alice. You and me, we should get out of here. Go see the other Alters.”

“I still don’t understand, I thought we couldn’t leave?”

“Kinda looks like I can do what I want, now. Really, literally whatever I want.” Kade paused, meeting Alice’s eyes, vibrating with quiet excitement: “Come on, I have a lot to catch you up on.”