spamalot } { hey it's good to be back home again

[impetere]

Cora: So you're saying he's not really going to be able to figure that out until we figure out where we stand?

Derek: I think he doesn't know what he wants right now beyond keeping that little girl safe. He needs to get that first before he's probably going to even think about himself.

Cora: [sighs softly] I'll do whatever he wants me to ...

Lydia: No. You aren't listening. As the resident crazy person, I'm making an executive decision. [she huffs and leans back against the seat] We're staying with your mother. And you and Stiles can deal with this like the theoretical adults that you are.

Derek: Thank you for being a voice of reason, Lydia. [looking at her in the rear view] And you're not a crazy person.

Cora: [is making a face but doesn't argue]

Lydia: You're not the one who had a mental breakdown and needed to leave Boston.

Derek: No, but at least you didn't a near death experience that drove you across the country for your own safety.

Lydia: That's self-preservation, not insanity. I had a screaming fit and was hearing voices in the middle of the commons.

Derek: Did they are least tell you how pretty you look today? [trying to make her feel a bit better]

Lydia: [a small smile at that, before turning her eyes out to the window] Well, it's certainly intersting to be home.

Derek: It's nice to have you home. [looks at his sister] You too, pup.

Cora: [glances back at him with a small smile] Any other surprises I should know about?

Derek: His daughter doesn't know what we are yet. But she's only three.

Cora: [she nods] So ex-nay on the erewolf-way.

Derek: Pretty much. [thinks] Oh, and Peter is Malia and Isaac's pet dog. [such a smirk]

Cora: [a sharp laugh] And he let her?

Derek: He was in coyote form at the time, and Dina is three. Pretty sure he didn't have a choice in the matter.

Cora: [she laughs harder] Poor Peter.

Derek: Dina and Ryan fell asleep on him. Mom has pictures. He couldn't shift out for almost two days [is laughing too hard]

Cora: [is laughing so hard she can't breathe] I'm sure he was very happy with that.

Derek: I think he secretly was, but we didn't see him for a day after.

Cora: Are he and Nadia still ... ?

Derek: I don't think Nadia's going to leave him because he became a pet for 48 hours.

Cora: No, but I think he might have been in it for the belly rubs.

Derek: [nope, back to laughing too hard]

Cora: [grins as her eyes turn back to the window again. She's missed this, being home with her family. It's good to be back]

Comments

[impetere]

"I'm not ... " Cora shakes her head, trying not to let what Lydia said get to her. "I just don't know how to be around him anymore. I want to, I just don't even know where to start trying to figure it out." She needs him to help her and he's not really in a place to help her right now. "Maybe I should just stay with Derek." Not that she wants to abandon Lydia, but if she's with her mom, she knows she'll be safe.

"It is. But I don't think I would have quite ... fit then either. I think Allison needed a friend who wasn't as in all this." There's a dry laugh at that. "Look at how well that turned out."

[fadingspark]

"Am I going to be the one to point out that you two avoiding each other is what got you both into this mess?" Isaac asked. "Usually it's my wife who enjoys pointing this stuff out, but it's a fact. And it took him a month before he'd even come out here with Scott. We're still pretty sure he's only here willingly because of Dina's safety. We've all had to figure out how to be around him again, and he doesn't make it easy. It's who he is now, but he's trying and you have to meet him halfway or he will shut you out."

"Well, that and Jackson was a complete douche none of us wanted to be around." Stiles said, using his one hand to repack the suitcase, but stopped at her laugh. He sat on the bed, watching her a moment. "You know, just because you found out you aren't human, it doesn't mean you still aren't you, Lydia. Do I need to give you the whole speech I gave Scott after he was bitten, because I can."

[impetere]

"I know! I know, and I'm not saying I won't." Cora wants that to be clear, because she doesn't not want to be around him. She hates avoiding him more than anything. "It's just everything I do or offer to do just ... starts a fight and that gets ... exhausting."

Lydia turns and gives him a bit of a look at that because yes, she's aware that she's still her. "For now, maybe. But I'm not like them, Stiles. I don't have claws or fangs, this isn't something I can control. I hear voices and find dead bodies without knowing how I got there, and there's only so much a human brain can take before ... " She lets her hands flop out to either side of her in an expression of frustration. "I wish I was a werewolf. At least then I'd have an excuse to be occasionally homicidal."

[fadingspark]

"Well, he does it to all of us. Right now he's probably not going to really let Lydia help him much either." He shifted to look at her more. "I see it in cases a lot - victims who basically are suffering from a form of PTSD. He's gone through literal Hell and who knows what really happened these last three years. He's not talking, and until he opens up, he's going to stay this way to all of us."


"Well, maybe you need to find an anchor. I mean, Scott wasn't able to control himself until he had something to focus on to be able to. I mean there has to be a way to learn to use it."

[impetere]

Cora sighs softly, leaning back into the couch and closing her eyes. "I'm probably the last person he's going to let help him. Scott probably has a better shot than I do. I just ... I don't want to make things worse." Because she knows how much her family missed him because of what she did and she doesn't want to come in and ruin that when they're finally getting him back again.

"Well, if you have any ideas, I'm all ears. It might be nice, not to just be randomly screaming all the time." And it might give Stiles something else to focus on that isn't his mess of a life at the moment.

[fadingspark]

"Actually, Malia and I are pretty sure it's the opposite. Scott, sure, but you were the one he really confided in. That's why you are going the have the hardest time getting him back, but it's because you're the one he's the most afraid to open up to."

Apparently the few psychology classes Isaac took in college are paying off now.


"I'll see if I can find something. Maybe Peter has something in his huge library that can help too."

[impetere]

Apparently. Cora raises her eyebrows at him, because very intuitive, Mr. Lahey, but that doesn't really tell her what she's supposed to do. "Okay, Dr. Freud." It's gentle teasing if nothing else, because she's missed him. She turns a bit, resting her elbow on the back of the couch and leaning her hand against it. "What would you recommend in getting Stiles to trust me again?"

Lydia nods a bit, running her hand through her hair. "Even if it's just a better way of helping me figure out what it means before ... " Well, before something bad happens. She's tired of tripping over dead people.

[fadingspark]

"Well, right now proving you're not going to hurt him is pretty big. We've all had to go through that in different ways, and you can see why. You probably are going to have a bit harder time with that, though." Isaac shrugs. He knows you know why, so no point saying it. "And just being there and listening helps too. I mean, that's how you guys all got me to trust you."


"If nothing else, you could have a great job in law enforcement trying to find missing people." Stiles reached for one of the pill bottles, struggling to open the childproof cap to take his next pain pill. "But I bet there's a way to focus on it. Maybe there's another person who can teach you somewhere."

[impetere]

She nods, taking that in. "I can do that." She can try at least. Try and at least find something that doesn't end in a fight. She'd never try and push him, and she doesn't expect for things to be the same, but she wants to at least try for friends.

After all, they did used to be friends once.

Lydia crosses the room carefully, taking the bottle gently from him and checking the dosage before popping open the top and pouring it out for him. "Maybe. I suppose we'll have to see."

[fadingspark]

"And just pick your fights." Isaac looked up the stairs a moment. "You can't smell it now, but sometimes the anger just rolls off him like a storm coming out of nowhere. Dina's the only anchor he has, but she's just a kid. Laura's I think just waiting for him to admit he needs to talk, but I think he's more stubborn now than he ever was."


Stiles opened his mouth to complain as Lydia took the bottle, but he just shut his mouth and held out his hands for the pills. "I could have done it myself," he stated.

[impetere]

And Cora's stubborn mixed with his stubborn could lead to some explosive blow outs. "I'll try." She couldn't make any promises, especially considering Stiles was known for his low blows, especially considering he knew her so well, but she could try.

"Mmmmm." It's a non-committal noise as she waits for him to take the pills, before closing the top on the bottle and placing it back down on the bedside table. "But you don't have to." She means with more than just the pill bottle. Just for the record.

[fadingspark]

"Just remember he loved you. That's not something you ever forget. It may be the one advantage you have." He's hoping Malia would be proud of the subtle hints he was laying here.

"Yeah, but maybe I want to." He dry swallowed the pills, then went to pick them up and toss them into the laundry basket to be moved to the next room.

[impetere]

She is. Extremely proud. She would not be nearly as subtle.

Cora, on the other hand, is not nearly so convinced. "I loved him too." She's very, very careful to keep that word in the past tense. "He loved me and I left him. Not exactly the best precedent."

Lydia pauses for a moment, considering her response carefully. "Want, fine. Can, sure. But think of it like physics. The more force you apply to an object, the further it goes. The faster it goes. Asking for help isn't a sign of weakness. It's knowing when you need a little extra force."

[fadingspark]

"I'm tired of asking for help!" That was how fast the anger came as he turned on her, pissed. "Don't treat me like I can't take care of myself."

Downstairs, Isaac's ears picked up the shouting and he made to move to get upstairs.

[impetere]

Cora's hand goes to Isaac's arm for a moment, shaking her head. She knows that Stiles probably isn't completely the same, but she also knows that Lydia knows what she's doing.

"I'm not." The words come fast and sharp, teeth bared as she does. She isn't afraid to match his anger, his frustration with her own, because she knows the feeling better than most. "I know what not being able to take care of yourself looks like. I see it in the mirror every day. But this isn't just about you, Stiles. This is about you and a little girl, and that little girl needs stability. She needs family and support and love and while you are one person, and I don't doubt that you love her more than anything else on this planet, you can't be a one man support system. That's the thing you can't do."

She takes a breath, taking another step closer to him and cupping his face in her hands, careful of the bruises. "You are one of the smartest people I know. And I don't have to see you with Dina to know that you're an amazing father. And I know how much you're willing to give to make sure that the people you love are happy, and I'm sorry that that blond bitch took advantage of that. But you are only human. And you have a pack of people who are here and ready to give back to you everything that you gave them."

She brushes her thumbs against his cheekbones gently. "Even me." Their relationship hasn't always been the best, but Lydia owes him a lot and she's not about to forget that. "So don't think of it as you putting yourself in other people's debt. Just think of it as us repaying the favor."

[fadingspark]

"Lydia, you take care of yourself more than you know. This revelation isn't going to change you. You're going to figure it out, step up and own it like you have everything else in your life. So don't give me that shit."

He tried to pull away from the touch, but the bed was in the way of his retreat. He stiffened instead, his eyes dark and warning her he didn't want to be touched. "And what I need is people to stop telling me what I need, what to do, and just butt out. And don't even pretend to think you know what my daughter needs. None of you know what we've been through, or what I'm really capable of."

[impetere]

"Of course we don't. You won't talk about it."

But she pulls her hands back at his request, a little of that Lydia Martin steel coming back into her voice that he knew so well in high school.

"But while we're playing fair, let's not act like you understand what it's like to have cryptic voices in your head day and night or just start screaming to the point where you can't stop. I may be able to step up and own this eventually, but at least I'm not afraid of admitting when I'm not. Or when I can't."

Her eyes narrow just slightly as she takes a step back from him, before making her way around him and flopping down onto the bed, legs crossed neatly in front of her. at the ankle. She lets her back rest against the headboard and makes a face at some of Derek's old posters. "But if you're so insistent on not needing my help, then fine. Consider it revoked. Now get out of my room."

[fadingspark]

Stiles scowled, and knelt down to toss the rest of his things in the suitcase and zipped it up. He then put it in the hallway, then silently grabbed the rolling cart with his laptop and rolled it to the laundry basket, put the laptop in the basket, basket on the table, and rolled it out and right into Laura's room. He then rolled the suitcase in and slammed the door shut behind him.

Isaac winced, then sighed and rubbed his eyes. "I really miss the old Stiles sometimes."

[impetere]

Cora nods a bit from her seat next to him running a hand through her hair. She doesn't feel like she has the right to say it at first, but she needs to all the same. "Me too."

[fadingspark]

Stiles is going to just stay in his room the rest of the day, deciding that ignoring all the people in the house is his best bet. Dina eventually comes up to snuggle with her daddy while he worked on his laptop, watching a cartoon on his tablet.

When Scott gets there to pick up Ryan, he sees Cora and grins. "Hey girl, wassup!" And he's squishing her in a hug.

[impetere]

"Do people even say 'wassup' anymore?" She asks as she sinks into the hug with a grin, closing her eyes and soaking up the feeling of being home. "I'm pretty sure that went out before even we were in high school."

[fadingspark]

"It's making a comeback." In Scott's little world of perfection. "You and Lydia going to be staying here?"

[impetere]

Cora takes a deep breath before nodding slowly. "Yep. That's the plan. At least until I figure out a job and we get an apartment of our own."

"Something with soundproofing." Lydia is coming down the stairs, having heard Scott's voice from Derek's room. "And hopefully before Stiles and I kill each other."

Cora sighs softly as she pulls back. "It was a rough day."

[fadingspark]

Scott just sighs and looks at Isaac who shrugs back at him. "I thought he was getting better. What happened?"

[impetere]

"I happened. Apparently helping someone with something they're struggling with is an argument-worthy offense." Lydia rolls her eyes. "Who knew?"

Cora sighs softly. "Lydia was trying to help. Lydia trying to help these days is just telling people what she thinks whether they actually need to hear it or not."

"Benefit of being the crazy one. People don't judge you for speaking your mind."