canon au } { post-3a finale, of spoiled food and succubi

[ooglyboogleys]

Derek: [carrying 3 boxes] Just how many boxes of books did you bring with us?

Dawn: [in front of him, fumbling for her keys] I can't help it that the Watcher library is way better than what they have here.

Derek: Is there going to be any room for us to actually live in here?

Dawn: Plenty. [key slides into the door and door opens.] I have a whole room for my books.

Derek: Is this the room I was supposed to live in?

Dawn: [laughs as she makes her way inside] No. Separate room.

Derek: Good. Because I'm not sleeping on a pile of books

Dawn: And I would never ask you to. [She drops her keys on the table by the door, before gesturing with one hand to her left.] You can leave the books in the living room for now. I'll sort through them tomorrow.

Derek: Alright. [he at least puts the books down somewhere out of the way]

Dawn: [drops his bag which she so graciously carried for him, before taking a step back] So. Tour?

Derek: Sounds like a plan.

Dawn: [holds up her hands to indicate the room they're in] Living room. [then she jerks her thumbs back behind her as she starts backing towards the open kitchen] Kitchen. [then she heads to his left, further into the apartment itself.] Bathroom, book room, and then the two bedrooms are in the back.

Derek: [he follows her, watching and observing each room.] Just one bathroom?

Dawn: I will try and limit my bathroom time appropriately. [glances over at him with a smirk] Unless you're about to get all girly on me and tell me you need one of your own.

Derek: [smirks] I remember how long you took in the morning in Scotland.

Dawn: I think we'll be able to manage. [she shakes her head before continuing.] Couple of ground rules: One - no verbally inviting anyone in. Vampires area a lot more common than you think. Two - in case of accidental invites, the stakes and other weapons also live in the book room. Three - I am still a Watcher, which means I have a squad of Slayers, who may or may not be in and out of here at any given time.

Derek: So when Peter comes to call - am I allowed to invite him in, or to I go for the stakes?

Dawn: No, Peter I think you need the broadsword, which is in the front closet.

Derek: Alright, we have a plan then. I think the rest of my pack is safe to come in

Dawn: [she nods] All the Slayers have keys, so unfamiliar footsteps might be them. Try not to attack first. I like my kitchen the way it is.

Derek: I will ask them their names and ranks before I bite them. [sarcasm]

Dawn: [she grins] Perfect. [the she gestures to the door to the guest room] And this'll be you.

Derek: [looks in] Smaller than I'm used to.

Dawn: It's not like you were really making use of the last one.

Derek: The loft had character [he's hurt, Dawn]

Dawn: It did. But you weren't talking about character you were talking about the size.

Derek: Size and character are correlated.

Dawn: Not always.

Derek: In my loft, they were.

Dawn: Well, this isn't your loft. This is my apartment.

Derek: Is the next one over available? I could buy them and knock down a few walls...

Dawn: First of all, I don't own. I rent. Second of all, my apartment is just fine the way it is.

Derek: [works his jaw, but nods after a moment.]

Dawn: [glances over to him] This could just a be a temporary thing, until you find a place of your own, you know.

Derek: So you're kicking me out now?

Dawn: No! No, not at all I want you here. But if this setup doesn't work for you, I don't want you to feel like you're stuck here either. It's probably been a while since you've had to live with someone.

Derek: I had Laura after the fire.

Dawn: [she closes her eyes] No, I know. Of course.

Derek: [he went to walk into the room] It's just... different. Not having a pack around. I can see why Omegas hate it.

Dawn: [watches him, leaning in the doorway] I know I'm not ... exactly pack material, but you still have me. And Beacon Hills is not that far away.

Derek: [he turns to look at her, then gives her a small smile] I know.

Dawn: [small smile back] We'll just take it one day at a time, and Cora will be here before you know it.

Derek: [nods]

Dawn: [nods] I'm gonna let you settle. And unpack some books. I'll be in the book room if you need me.

Derek: I'll go get my bag.

Dawn: [steps to the side to let him out ahead of her before heading to the living room to pick up one of the boxes]

Derek: [ he grabs his bag and brings it back to his room and unpacks. He only has a few clothes, and a single book that smelt like smoke. It barely fills a corner of the room, and he sits on the bed and looks at the window in thought.]

Dawn: [the book room, on the other hand, is almost packed to the brim. Dawn sorts it according to her own internal sorting system and could easily lose a few hours in there doing so, until she realizes that she is starving.] Dinner. I should make dinner.

Derek: [still just sitting in his room, lost in his own thoughts when he hears Dawn talking to herself. He got up, going to stand in his doorway] Should I help?

Dawn: [glances back over her shoulder] If you want? I have to figure out what hasn't totally spoiled why I was gone, and what's actually good to eat. It'd probably be safer to just ... order a pizza.

Derek: Pepperoni?

Dawn: [nods as she walks over to the fridge] Perfect. [she opens the door to the fridge and immediately closes it] Yep. Gotta clean out my fridge.

Derek: [nearly gags] oh god

Dawn: [she makes a face] I'm going to just ... wait until you have class or something and do it while you're gone. [out of respect for his nose]

Derek: Thank you. I'll go... pick up the pizza. [because the house needs to air out now]

Dawn: [Yep. And she's going to go open alllllll the windows to do so] Do you need cash?

Derek: I'm good. [already halfway out the door because OMG DAWN WHAT DIED IN THERE?!]

Dawn: [Look she was supposed to go to Beacon Hills for a few days to find Cora, and staying for a couple weeks, getting kidnapped by a darach and then going to Scotland she did not have time to prep her fridge.]

Derek: [what about all those Slayers that come in and out? none of them could do it?]

Dawn: [They come for weapons and knowledge and occasionally booze. Besides, they're late teens-early twenties why would they clean out a fridge]

Derek: [obviously they didn't open it at all otherwise they would have noticed the smell when they came in]

Dawn: [that too.]

Derek: [he'll take a good 30 minutes to get the pizza and come back]

Dawn: [and by the time he does the apartment smells a lot like Lysol Air Freshener but at least it doesn't smell like rotting food]

Derek: [that's debateable. He's keeping the pizza boxes next to his nose just in case]

Dawn: [look, she sprayed the crap out of the place. She's still spraying when he walks in.] I did the best I could?

Derek: I know.

Dawn: Hopefully it'll ... dissipate.

Derek: I'll live. [or he'll sleep on the fire escape]

Dawn: [and with that she puts the air freshener down and goes to get plates] We can eat in the living room too.

Derek: Sounds like a plan.

Dawn: [she plops down on the couch waiting for him to sit next to her and handing him a plate]

Derek: [he has to sit next to her because there isn't really anywhere else. it's cozy. He takes one, but waits for her to get her slice first]

Dawn: [she picks a slice up from the box, chewing at the strings of cheese as she puts it on her plate]

Derek: [watches her, trying not to smile at how adorable she looked doing that.]

Dawn: [instead she glances over and raises an eyebrow] What?

Derek: [straight face] nothing

Dawn: [both go up and she shrugs before taking a slice of her pizza] Okay.

Derek: [he goes and gets two slices for himself and sits back to eat. He uses his fingers to get those cheese strings]

Dawn: [wimp] So have you picked classes yet, or are you still playing it by ear?

Derek: By ear. I don't know what I want to major in yet.

Dawn: You should get your gen ed's out of the way early, though, so you don't have to worry about them later.

Derek: I'm still waiting to hear if the few courses I took in New York can transfer.

Dawn: [nods] Makes sense

Derek: Maybe I will take a literature class. We have enough books.

Dawn: And the books you'll need for that class are in English, even.

Derek: Which always helps.

Dawn: Most of mine are in dead demon languages.

Derek: Just make sure you keep the dead demon language cookbooks away from the dead demon language summoning spells.

Dawn: Already got you covered.

Derek: Good. I don't need a succubi appearing in my oatmeal.

Dawn: Succubi don't really ... appear. Most of them are anti-teleport.

Derek: [gives her the one eyebrow look]

Dawn: ... You have met my sister the demon hunter, haven't you?

Derek: And you have experience with succubi why?

Dawn: I may have met one. Once.

Derek: [evil grin] Did you have fun?

Dawn: [and watch her blush like crazy] Succubi are no laughing matter, okay?

Derek: Usually if you laugh during that, your partner gets upset.

Dawn: [watch her blush even more] It's not like that.

Derek: Uh huh.

Dawn: Really. We didn't even ... do anything and we are not talking about this anymore.

Derek: Sure. [he focuses on his pizza]

Dawn: [and that throws her a bit] Just like that?

Derek: I can use my imagination if you don't want to talk about it.

Dawn: ...... Why does that seem worse?

Derek: [wolfy grin]

Dawn: [shoves his shoulder hard] You are terrible.

Derek: [laughs a bit and finishes his slices]

Dawn: [she finishes off her own pizza before leaning back against the couch] It is definitely good to be home. Time bomb of a fridge and all.

Derek: [he just nods, since it isn't home to him, but just another place to sleep for awhile]

Dawn: [maybe not, but it is hers all the same.] I think you'll like it here.

Derek: I hope so.

Dawn: [she reaches over to give his hand a small squeeze, before glancing over her shoulder.] You wanna watch some TV? The remote is around here ... somewhere.