impetere | asgard eventide } { ic inbox

[Erica takes a breath and looks at her.]

I didn't know that... I mean, I've known I died for a long time. There had been a tree that gave us fruit and I saw parts of it, but it wasn't complete and ... I just thought...

[She pauses because she gets a message from Scott around this time...]

It's Scott... I told him.

[She'll reply a few times and then she'll look to Cora.]

I'm going to go unlock the front door. He wants to see his room, I think. I'll be right back.

[Cora nods a bit as she lets her go, pausing to rest her chin on her hands as she waits for her to come back, thoughts spinning a bit in her head. She's not surprised no one told her that - she and Boyd were the only ones who really knew, and she didn't tell anyone, from the guilt more than anything else.

They were close enough to pack at that point. She shouldn't have let her go up against Kali alone, but she was so used to surviving, to focusing on keeping herself alive more than anything else, she had forgotten how to fight. Losing Erica and Boyd had brought that back in her again, and while she still picks her battles carefully, makes sure that it's something worth fighting for, she fights.

That's the important thing.]

[She's gone longer than she had realized she'd be. Stopping to tell Stiles on the way, because she'd thought about how Scott would need someone to talk to. How she wanted him to know, too. Then she'd done the thing she hadn't wanted to do... run into Scott.

She stays with him a bit longer, talking to him about Isaac and hugging him, which made her even more sad.

Now, she's returning, glad the dogs are in here asleep, instead of out there to bug Scott.]

Sorry... I texted Stiles to let him know and then Scott was here.

[She definitely looks more upset than she had been when she left.] I still have to tell Boyd.

[She notices that, seeing the toll that this is having on her, and she knows that she should do something. Even if she isn't entirely sure what that something is.]

Do you want me to do it?

[She'd understand if she didn't - Boyd, Isaac and Erica were tight, pack before she even came into the picture, but Cora wants to offer all the same.]

[Erica moves to the bed and sits down, shoulders slouching forward as she nods.]

I'm tired of people I love leaving... [It's been a rough few weeks for her. First Sam and now Isaac... she's afraid that if she goes to tell Boyd, he'll be gone too.]

Can you?

[She nods a bit at that, and while she would promise to stay, there's a part of her that knows she can't. They don't get a say in who comes and who goes. They just have to deal with whatever they're given.

It sucks a lot.

Still, she reaches for the bracelet to fire off a message to Boyd.]

Yeah. I can do that.

[Erica nods.] Thanks.

[Then she moves to sit on the floor, her back to the side of the bed watching as DiCaprio shuffles to his feet to come plop down next to her on the floor. She knows if she stays on the bed, she'll end up curling up next to Cora and her and Cora have never been that close. She could do that with Isaac, she had even shared a bed with him for those months before they had their own place.]

[They haven't been, but Cora wouldn't have minded. Still, she can get the need to separate the two, wanting to not confuse things, especially with a loss like that. As much as she can try and fill in some of the gaps, she's not Isaac. She wouldn't want it to seem like she's trying to be.

Still, she shifts so that she's resting on her stomach, letting that proximity be there all the same. Reminding Erica that she's not alone, even if it isn't the one she wanted.]

He's on his way.

[The heavy footsteps should be a dead giveaway to his arrival even if they were all missing their enhanced senses. Boyd quickly deposits his jacket somewhere near the door and goes straight for the girl's room. He's grateful as always for Cora making things easier for him. Knowing Isaac is gone just makes him want to rush to their sides more than usual. Derek and Peter were no great loss to him, but Isaac? That gets to him.

It's obvious from the moment he opens the door to their room. There's a tension in his shoulder like he's trying hard to hold them up. While Boyd isn't one to be open about his feelings often, he's visibly upset. He doesn't waste any time moving to Erica's side first to silently offer himself. Whatever she needs it's hers as far as he's concerned.]

[The dogs hear him first. Heads lifting up to the sounds and Erica starts to feel that tightness in her chest. She knows that he has two choices. He could come in here and see them or he could go to this own room to settle with his own thoughts. It's a difficult whichever way he goes with this, but she just hopes that she's strong enough to handle whatever it is.

When the door opens, the dog moves away. Not out of fear, but just out of not wanting to get stepped on.

The moment Body settles beside her, she feels that part of her break. The one that knows what this means. It had been one thing to talk to Scott about a lost love. To open up about unsaid things and how much Isaac had cared for Scott.

This was different, this was about losing a part of them. It had been the three of them and she thought it would always be that way, but now they're just losing each other. If not here... then back home. She reaches for Boyd and leans her weight to him, her arm crossing over him as she hugs him from her seated on the floor position. It's then that she feels the first sting of tears. The heavy sob that breaks from her as she realizes that they're a broken pack again.]

[He wraps one of his arms around Erica, eyes squeezing shut at the sound of that sob. Yes, their pack was broken again. It's small comfort knowing at least Scott would look after Isaac back home if nothing else when this was over. He remembers how happy Isaac was when he saw him, how cheerfully he talked about his time with Erica. He missed them. He has to go back to missing them every day. It's so wrong, but everything about their lives were.

He exhales sharply, but for now he's content to just hold her and allow her to feel this. If there's a stinging behind his closed lids, he ignores it.]

[She's meant to be stronger than this, Cora and her were just talking about it, but she can't help but feel like she's lost half of herself with Isaac leaving. He's always been there for her, from the first day when she arrived. Now, she's not sure what she's going to do. She'll have to keep going. She knows that much at least.

Erica's sob stops as suddenly as it had started, but she still clings to Boyd for comfort. Her head still resting to his shoulder as she curls against him. She doesn't want to lose anyone else. She doesn't want to deal with this one person at a time.]

[Boyd would probably argue she's the strongest out of all the betas present in this room. He often feels himself straining to measure up. Unlike some of the people present in Asgard he can't read minds so that remains unsaid.

He runs his fingers over her back, squeezing just a little tighter. Very carefully he opens his eyes to quietly acknowledge Cora in the room. They're bright and wet, but he won't be crying any time soon or trying offer up some empty words of comfort. That's not who he is. The best he can do is be here.]

[Cora glances back at him, before inching closer to the edge of the bed. One hand finds his shoulder and she doesn't say anything either, but keeps that contact there. She isn't really sure what to say, but she's there.

Instead of leaning on them, they can lean on her.]

[Okay, that might be Cora's plan, but Erica is going to sit up straighter and try to pull Cora down to the floor with them. She's going to become part of this pack whether she wants to be this sort of pack member or not.]

We have to stick together.

[The corner of Boyd's lip twitches when Erica tries to pull her down. He appreciates what Cora is trying to do, but that's not how this works. Despite that brief moment of amusement, he nods seriously barely a second later.] We will. All of us.

[Whoever that will come down to when this is over. In a better world, he could just stick with everyone to the end. There's no way of knowing for sure if that's the way it will play out.]

[She doesn't fight it, that little bit of acceptance meaning more to her than she'd probably ever say. She goes where Erica tugs her, joining the puppy pile on the floor and sinking into the affection.]

It's probably the only way we're going to make it out of this.

[Erica is glad that they're all together. She's trying to not cry again, because she's settled into this and she doesn't want to really focus on what she's lost so far.]

Then that's what we'll do. We'll stick together through the end.

[Boyd nods, lapsing into his natural state of silence. It won't be easy. They have no choice over who stays and who goes. This is a war which naturally meant things would get worse before they got better. The rest is nothing they're not used to. They're young and the stakes are impossibly high, but that was Beacon Hills in a nutshell. He's confident they've grown up just enough to handle it together as a unit.]

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