theresalwayshope | two for the price of one (circus plot, dual pup)

Entry tags:

two for the price of one (circus plot, dual pup)

(Takes place the evening of this post.)

Allison was thinking about dinner when she started thinking about Derek.

Last time she'd checked, he was...okay. Sick still, but as okay as he was going to get...while being a sick werewolf. It took the wind right back out of her sails to think of him laid up at home, and wasted her afternoon and the sacrifice of her sunburn as she started worrying about him again.

Too often since that day in the park, she thought about that blood in the grass. She kept feeling the weight of him as he leaned on her for support, and she worried not just about him, but about Scott. If Derek could get sick, and he was an Alpha...

Standing with her head in the fridge, eying some leftover Chinese takeout Kenzi had shared with her the night before after leaving Dr. Banner's place, she made a snap decision and shut the door of the fridge.

Throwing a loose tank top on over the bikini top and cutoffs she was wearing to spare her sunburn, Allison headed out to a place not far from the Bramford Building. It was too late to make her own chicken soup, but she'd eaten at the little mom-and-pop cafe before, and their stuff was as good as homemade: rich broth without being salty, thick shreds of white meat chicken, and vegetables cooked to perfection. It was worlds away from the chicken soup her mother would make when she was sick, the kind that always made her feel sick by association whenever she ate it. This stuff was grade A comfort food, and she made a point of ordering enough to leave some with Derek so he could reheat it the next day, even if Stiles had some.

Adding a Cesar salad for herself, Allison brought the order right over to Dimera Apartments, humming to herself as she took the elevator up...

...only to find another person heading for Derek and Stiles' apartment with a bag in his hand.

"...Sheriff Stilinski?"

Al turned away from where he was fishing for his keys, blinking in surprise at the sight of a red-faced Allison Argent toting her own takeout bag and sporting an expression he was pretty sure matched his.

"Allison? What're you doing here?" he asked incredulously.

"Having the same idea you did, from the looks of it." Allison grinned, moving towards him to offer a careful hug in greeting. "Chicken soup?"

"Chicken and rice, actually...there's a little sandwich shop down the street from the station..."

Allison dissolved into giggles, rolling her eyes as Al grinned, finally locating his keys to let them both into the apartment.

"Derek?" Allison called as Al ushered her in ahead of him, taking her bag of food off her hands and pointing to Derek's bedroom so she could wasn't over and knock on the door jamb. "You up?"

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Derek is not handling being an invalid very well.

At this point, he's fairly certain that he isn't going to die, so he's just really annoyed. And petulant. He never got to be a sick, whiny little kid. Sure, he broke a lot of bones and heard well that was a dumb idea, wasn't it? from his mother a whole lot while they healed, but he was never sick.

Stiles has been as decent as he could be expected to be, what with Derek being at turns bitchy and clingy. Stiles, he needs more blankets. Stiles, he needs less blankets. No Stiles, he isn't hungry. Stiles, feed him!

Stiles is now, understandably, not in the apartment.

Derek is swaddled in a cocoon of blankets when he hears the door open and he peeks his face out to see if Stiles has come back, but then he hears Allison call out, followed shortly by Al's distinctive footsteps, and he pulls the blankets over his head.

By the time they make it to his room, his a sad little ball under a pile of blankets that's emanating deep growls that aren't very threatening because he keeps having to stop and hack up a lung before picking the growl back up.

Edited 2014-07-22 05:41 (UTC)

"He in there?"

"Pouting like a puppy." Allison called over her shoulder with a laugh before striding into Derek's room while Al just chuckled, breaking out the food in the kitchen.

"Loyal Heart, you better be cuddling with that plushie under those blankets, or else I'm busting out those big, ugly tears." Allison threatened, wincing just a little as her sunburn stung when she grabbed the blankets piled on top of Derek and flipped them away from his body, leaving the line of his back exposed. She didn't hesitate to crawl in behind him, settling her chin on his shoulder to peer at his face while her arms did their best to wrap around him.

"We brought you chicken soup." she murmured, less playful and more sympathetic as she rubbed her cheek against his, a remembered lupine gesture from her time as a werewolf. "You feel well enough to eat some?"

Derek huffs and the plush toy comes flying out of the blankets a few moments later. When Allison rips his blankets away, Derek snarls loudly and flashes his eyes. This doesn't seem to deter Allison, and he finally just huffs when she crawls into bed. She nuzzles him and Derek deflates, curling into her and resting his cheek on her chest with a huff.

"Maybe," he says quietly, voice rough. He turns his head to look at Al. "Hey, Al. Stiles isn't here."

"Stiles isn't the one that's laid up, kiddo!" Al called out, abandoning the take out for a moment to head for the door to Derek's room, while Allison shifted so Derek could cuddle up to her better. "That'd be you."

"And you are severely lacking in the whole 'home sick' experience." Allison informed Derek with an emphatic nod, kissing the top of his head. "So Sheriff Stilinski and I had the same idea at the same time. Chicken soup, it'll make you feel better."

Leaning against the door frame, Al folded his arms with a fond smile as Allison hugged Derek's head with both arms. The pair of them looked, for all the world, like little kids underneath the mess of blankets Derek had piled on the bed, and for a moment he flashed back to the time Stiles had the flu for a solid week. He had, of course, passed it right along to Scott, and between him and Melissa, the boys spent the duration of their illness in much the same fashion: tucked into the couch to watch TV, or sharing each other's beds under a mountain of blankets and pillows...two pathetic and pasty little seven year old boys, desperate to feel better and equally desperate to avoid going to school for as long as possible.

With a fond sigh, Al pushed off the door frame, crossing over to pat Derek's leg through the blanket.

"C'mon. Migrate to the couch, Allison will help you...you can eat something and lay down, you'll feel better." he assured him, glancing at the stuffed toy on the floor, then eyeballing Allison. "Was that you?"

"That," she informed Al brightly, pointing at the toy, "is Derek. Loyal Heart Dog...one of the Care Bear Cousins?"

"I raised a boy...two, if you count Scott. Don't know nothin' 'bout no Care Bears. C'mon, Allison, stop being a pest and get him outta bed."

Allison pretended to look insulted, burrowing further under Derek's covers and against his body in protest, despite the fact that between the blankets and her sunburn, she was starting to sweat. "Pffft. I am not a pest. I'm a brat. Big difference."

When Derek realizes that Al is here specifically to see him, he blinks a few times. Al is looking at him fondly and with emotion, and Allison is curled around him like he's important, and he is way too fragile to handle this right now.

"She is a brat," Derek grumbles. He's feverish, but Allison is way too hot to the touch. He cracks one eye open to see her bright red skin, and then huffs as he snakes a hand out of the blankets to grab her wrist. The veins in the back of his hand go black for a moment and he wrinkles his nose as his own skin burns for a moment. "Idiot. Get better sunscreen."

He huffs and kicks the blankets off irritably, watching them through squinted eyes. They're the only people to be in his room other than Stiles, and that's a big deal. But he trusts these people, annoying as they may currently be, so he peels himself off of the bed like a scab and stumbles into the wall, mumbling against the plaster. "I'm not a Care Bare."

"Hey, wait, don't--Derek!!" Allison squealed as he caught her wrist. Realizing what he meant to do, she twisted uselessly to get loose, but a moment later she could finally feel the cool air of the room stirring against her skin as the sting of her sunburn bled away into nothing.

"You're the idiot, stop that!" She admonished, swatting his shoulder as he peeled himself off the bed. Allison rolled out after him, grabbing a blanket and a pillow before she moved to his side.

"And you are a Care Bear Cousin." she corrected, ducking under his arm to let him lean against her as she steered him out into the living room, raising her voice. "Sheriff! He's using his wolf powers when he's sick, can't you ground him or something?"

"Leave him alone, Allison!" Al sighed from the kitchen, where he was dishing up some soup for Derek. "Just get him settled, huh?"

When he caught Derek's eye across the room, however, Al raised an eyebrow at him and shook his head, mouthing don't do that at him.

[ooc: holy god, ignore the many typos and poor word choices in that last tag. i was 95% asleep when i wrote it. XD]

Derek flinches when Allison yells at him, looking confused and sad as she drags him out of the room. He'd only been trying to help, and it's not like taking the pain of a sunburn was going to ruin him. He's sick and a little weak right now, but he's still their alpha. He's still useful.

And then Al scolds him. In a nice way, but still. Derek feels emotionally achy on top of everything else when he falls back onto the sofa, and he's pouty and embarrassed enough to not reach for Allison and just curl the blankets around himself instead, staring down at his lap.

[ooc: IT'S OKAY WE STILL LAUF YOO BB <3333]

Allison watched Derek basically settle himself in to pout when she helped him onto the sofa, then rolled her eyes and reached down to tug away the blanket, replacing it with herself instead. Plunking down beside him, she insinuated herself against his side and wrapped her arms around his waist, resting her head on his shoulder.

"Oh, no you don't." she chided. "No pouting, no hiding from the pack, Alpha Loyal Heart." Tilting her head to look up at him, she gently poked his chest with her index finger. "Stop thinking like an idiot and start thinking like a wolf. Our alpha is sick, it's our job as betas to look after him...and since you're not used to being sick, lesson one: you're supposed to sit around like a lump and let people fuss over you as if you're totally helpless and can't do anything for yourself."

Leaning up, she kissed his cheek cheerfully. "Welcome to the human condition."

Just then Al circled the sofa with a gently steaming bowl of soup in hand. Handing it to Derek carefully, he took the seat on the other side of Derek, patting his shoulder paternally.

"She's not wrong, Derek." he assured him with a fond smile, then continuing as he gestured vaguely at Allison. "I mean, I don't have her perspective, necessarily, but...y'know, I figure being an Alpha's not all that different from being a single father. Difference is, you're not alone. So just...let us be the Alphas for a little while, 'kay? Just relax, we'll...protect the den, or whatever, until you feel better. 'Kay?"

Derek grumbles halfheartedly when Allison snuggles up to him, and then looks down at her with a highly dubious expression as she speaks. It's against his nature to sit around and do nothing, and he isn't used to being fawned over. His mother was incredibly nurturing, but she taught them how to take care of themselves. Despite her lessons, he and Laura were still completely lost without her. Laura was his whole family, his alpha, and his best friend all rolled into one, and they were there for each other, but they ere both so worried about further burdening the other that they always did their best to be strong.

It's been years since Derek received any attention like this, and he isn't sure what to do with it. When Allison kisses his cheek he just blinks and melts into the sofa a little, hands slipping out from the blankets to take the soup with a small, grateful smile.

He watches Al through slightly squinted eyes while he speaks, and then huffs and takes a sip of the soup. It's really good and it's the first thing he's eaten in days that he hasn't had to force down his throat, so he curls his arm around the bowl protectively as he starts to eat.

"If this is what you guys need to do to make yourself feel better," Derek says, and it comes out sounding like thank you, "then I won't stop you."

"That's the smartest thing you've said since I got to Darrow." Allison informed him cheerfully.

Al eyed her dubiously, but his expression was fond underneath the mock scowl. "You ever play with dogs when you were a kid, Allison? Pull their tail too many times and they bite. Let the man eat in peace, huh?"

"I am! He secretly likes this, you know." Allison insisted, resting her cheek against his shoulder. "Werewolves are ridiculously tactile, and I'm not being a brat: I went through it when I was a werewolf. I don't know how it applies to wolves in the wild, but it kept my wolf calm. The scent marking, being where he could protect me, just doing this." She paused, snuggling a little closer as she tucked her legs up underneath her on the sofa. "I was even clingy with humans, so hug him often."

Al rolled his eyes, but the smile that followed made it clear he was giving Allison's remarks at least some weight as he slid a brief, assessing look at Derek where he sat with Allison burrowed cheerfully against his side.

The entire time Allison speaks, Derek looks at her with a wounded expression full of intense betrayal. Part of him is annoyed that she's divulging secrets and emotions that he's worked so hard to keep hidden, and the Derek of Beacon Hills probably would have yelled and growled and forcibly removed her by now. Actually, there's no probably about it. She would have been out on her ass.

It's moments like these that he's realized how much he's changed (or grown) since his arrival in Darrow. He's not a different person, but he's more open. He handles things better. He's not as quick to anger, or to push people away. He still isn't entirely confident, and he has a lot of issues to work through still, but he's nowhere near as full of self-loathing as he was before he got here.

So while she's being annoying, it's more of in a bratty little sister way than anything. The thought makes Derek ache, and he's distracted enough to talk when he meant to say nothing at all.

"It was a lot stronger with Allison because she was a brand new wolf without time to learn complete control," Derek tells Al without really looking at him. His cheeks and the tips of his ears go pink, which a feat considering how washed out and pale he is. "But she isn't wrong."

He frowns down at his soup and bites his lip, shrinking in on himself and finally asking what he's been thinking about for so long. He hates how broken he sounds and he swallows hard, not looking at either of them. "Could you guys maybe - could you tell me about Cora? What is she like now?"

The question rendered them both silent for a moment, leaving Allison and Al to share a look across the small space.

"Truthfully? I didn't know her that well." Al admitted slowly. "Didn't talk to her much, I mean." He paused, brightening a little as he gestured vaguely with one hand. "She came over with Stiles when he...showed me the whole chessboard. Explained the supernatural stuff. She's a good looking girl, very pretty...definitely see the family resemblance."

"She's a lot like you, too." Allison added with a small smile, elbowing him gently. "Strong, smart...massive sourpuss. And, if Stiles can be believed, she wanted to punch him exactly as often as you do...did...if not moreso."

Al raised an eyebrow at Allison when she mentioned Cora's endless desire to punch Stiles...then slid a look at Derek and shrugged a little, nodding.

He loved his son, more than anything...but he was more than capable of seeing how some people with a disposition like Derek's might be subject to that particular urge from time to time.

Derek hung to their every word eagerly, desperate for any information on the little sister that he thought was dead all these years. His expression only flickers to one of slight confusion when he's pretty sure Al calls him pretty, and then he looks over at Allison with a dubious raise of his brow. "That's pretty much how Hales flirt."

Sure, he had legitimately wanted to punch Stiles a few times, but by now he can admit that a lot of it was blatant pigtail pulling. Part of him wanted Stiles before Derek ever even figured it out for himself, and his hostile attitude towards Stiles was mainly a result of the conflicting emotions the kid raised within him.

"Were they close?" He doesn't sound jealous, although Derek's cute younger sister showing up and snagging the object of Derek's affections would pretty much be par for the course of his shitty luck back home, but things are different now. It's hard to reconcile his Stiles with what he knows of the one back home, the one who pals around with Derek's kid sister and uses her for werewolf show and tell on his dad even know he never wanted him to find out, and who obviously had something terrible happen to him, judging by the questions Al asked upon his arrival. He looks over at Allison, who back home was either seriously injured or worse, by the hints Lydia dropped, and he's suddenly so grateful to be in Darrow, even if it is keeping him from being with his sister.

"She was always kind of a terror. She was loud and bossy and she broke about twenty of my bones over the course of a year where her favorite activity was jumping out of the big tree in our front yard to land on top of me when I walked by." He snorts fondly at the memory and then closes his eyes in pain, thinking of their mother scolding a big-eyed, gap-toothed Cora who grinned the entire time, with Derek rolling around in the grass next to them muttering every modified curse he could think of while his bones knitted back together. She was a little hellion, but she was smart and funny and loyal, and it hurts to know that she apparently changed just as much as Derek did. Grief does that to a person. He at least had Laura. Cora had no one. He can't even imagine.

He sighs and blinks away the sting in his eyes before lifting his head and rolling his shoulders like he can shake the emotions away. A small smile graces his lips for a moment before he takes another bite of his soup. "Thanks for telling me."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

two for the price of one (circus plot, dual pup)

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject