canon au } { post-s4, of pie and dealing with the past

[wildkingdom]

Peter: [meanwhile, he had stayed alone for the day, nibbling on leftovers and sitting and catching up on his reading while sipping from a glass of wine. As the sun set, he decided to take the wine out onto the balcony and just stand there, leaning on the rail and looking over the view of the city he had, taking in the shifts of the scents on the wind]

Malia: [had bailed on the family dinner she was invited to because her dad was super intense on the Thanksgiving front, and while she was given permission to go to the pack Thanksgiving, she didn't think asking to go to have dinner with some random family would go over well - and she honestly didn't want the pressure. She didn't want to feel like she was part of the family when she didn't really know what that family was yet. So it wasn't really about Peter. It was about Malia. But now she has this pie that she doesn't know what to do with, and part of her almost feels kind of bad about the fact that she didn't go for a reason she can't entirely explain. So it's those confluences of emotions that have her standing at Peter's door, pie in hand, and feeling kind of awkward about it. It takes a moment, before she raises her hand and knocks quickly on his door before she can second guess herself.]

Peter: [he turns at the knock, not having expected it. Buffy would have let herself back in, so he pushed himself away from the balcony and left the wine glass there to go into the house. He's only in a sweatshirt and sleep pants, not at all put together or expecting anything. So when he opens the door, he's a bit confused at seeing Malia there. Especially since he had been certain he wasn't going to see her after she didn't show up last night] Malia... come in? [he moved to the side to give her room to enter]

Malia: [she looks up at him and she still doesn't know what to do. She still doesn't know if she should trust him which is why she doesn't take that offer to come in right away. Instead she just thrusts the tin with her dessert in her hand towards him, swallowing hard before she speaks] I brought you some pie. [a beat] Well, Buffy made me take it to get rid of the leftovers, but ... [pushes the tin towards him again]

Peter: She probably wanted you to take it home and share it with your father. That's one of her things with pies - they're meant to be shared

Malia: Oh. [she still holds it out to him, because she isn't really sure what to do with it otherwise. She doesn't think that her adoptive father shares Buffy's opinions on pies, and it's become harder to know what to do with him since she found out that he's not even her real father. Despite her alternative being Peter, it hasn't exactly given her any impetus to try and reforge that relationship. She glances down at it for a moment, before looking up at him again] Do you want it or not?

Peter: [he looks at it, then her] I guess it depends on if you're planning on sharing it with me. [he reached out to take it though]

Malia: [she lets him take it from her, arms crossed in front of her chest as she glances up and down the hallway for a moment, before glancing back to him] Okay.

Peter: [he gives her a small smile and motions for her to come in] We can eat in the kitchen. What would you like to drink with it?

Malia: Milk. [but only with desserts like pie or cookies. Otherwise she's pretty much a water girl. She takes a few steps in and waits for him to close the door and lead the way. She's been here before, but it feels different now.]

Peter: [he moves into the kitchen, letting her take in the scents. It's changed. The bookcases aren't empty - little things have shown up from the vault that had belonged to Peter that he had reclaimed. Things like a trophy from high school, a family artifact, little reflections of him that were far gone from the overly clean place it had used to be. There were dishes in the sink, and if she peaked into the bedroom, it was a mess. Little things of him letting so of the tight control he had kept over everything and trying to be more himself]

Malia: [plus Buffy added touches too. her scent is all over the place, which doesn't really surprise Malia so much as add a little bit of balance. She follows his lead, her eyes mapping all the new changes as she does]

Peter: [and he cuts two slices and has two glasses of milk, and puts them across from the other] So how was the pack dinner?

Malia: Nice. Apparently those Winchester guys had a musical written about them. We watched it.

Peter: Oh god, I will have to ask Buffy to get me a copy so I can see. How bad was it?

Malia: [she gives a bit of a shrug] Sam and Dean were doing a lot of drinking?

Peter: [chuckles] Must have been bad for them then.

Malia: Everyone was laughing?

Peter: Sam and Dean have led a very interesting life. Stranger than ours, even. It's good to be able to laugh at it afterward.

Malia: [she shrugs] I didn't really get it. People were randomly singing. It was weird.

Peter: It was a musical. People feel emotions greater when it's put to music, so with a musical, you take the emotion and put it to words to match the scene that the actors are physically acting.

Malia: [wrinkles her lose as she picks up her fork to pick at her pie] I still didn't get it.

Peter: You can probably have one of them explain it better since they can tell you how it relates to their lives. [he goes to eat a piece of the pie, then smiles] This is good.

Malia: [she nods a bit] Scott's mom brought them.

Peter: I'll have to send her a thank you note. [not that she would probably accept it, but he was working on making the amends]

Malia: [nods a bit though ... yeah. she pushes her pie around with her fork for a moment, keeping her eyes on her plate] I met Laura.

Peter: [his fork stills as well and he looks at it a moment, then up at her] That's good. She would be the last one of our family you can meet.

Malia: [she nods a bit, still pushing the pie around so that it stains the plate a bit] I think she knows something about my mom.

Peter: [he sits back at that, thinking] Well, my sister took the memory from myself and Derek, so I don't know how she would have known. But we can ask her.

Malia: [she shrugs] She looked at me like she was seeing a ghost.

Peter: Maybe she remembers a time when I knew your mother. What she looks like.

Malia: So it's a lead, right?

Peter: It is. It's a good one too. [but how to get the information will make it hard]

Malia: [nods a bit. Guess you really have to make a deal with that deputy now, huh Peter? She takes another bite of the pie before shrugging] She seemed nice. Though it was kind of obvious she didn't know what to do with me.

Peter: She probably wasn't expecting you. I don't know if Derek or Cora had told her about you yet.

Malia: She broke a glass. I don't think they did.

Peter: Well, you'll have to ask Derek if he can introduce you two properly so you can talk.

Malia: [nods a bit, mouth half-full of pie] I guess.

Peter: She can be a bit strong headed and overprotective, but Laura was a good person. Very much like her mother.

Malia: You mean the mother who erased your memories of my mother and left me to be raised by a family who knew nothing about shifters so that I could kill them when trapped in a car with me on a full moon? Because she sounds great. [sorry, Peter, her opinion of Talia is not high, super alpha or not]

Peter: I can't justify why she did it. But she was my sister and I cared for her a lot. Which in a way worries me as to why she would have done it in the first place.

Malia: Maybe you should have a séance and ask her.

Peter: I've been thinking of it, actually. [now that Scott knew how to do the ritual , he could finally go to see her. But there’s something more there, something that he doesn't want his sister, to see what he had become]

Malia: [blinks] Seriously?

Peter: [oh yeah, explaining things] Not to sound morbid, but Derek found his mother's claws from after she had died. He used them to be able to talk to her. [he takes a moment] Lydia used them to learn about us.

Malia: So why haven't you talked to her yourself?

Peter: Because I need a second person to help with the ritual, and I've only taught one other person to do it.

Malia: [wait for it, wait for it ...] Scott.

Peter: When he used it to save Stiles. And later me.

Malia: So why don't you ask him? He doesn't hate you anymore, right?

Peter: I don't think so. But I'm not sure if it's the right time yet.

Malia: [yeah, that doesn't really make her happy to hear] So when will be the right time? Because so far, we have nothing.

Peter: Let's see what Laura knows first, and it may not even been necessary and faster that way.

Malia: [she takes a breath, presses her lips into a line, before looking down at her pie again] Fine. [sorry, Peter, she's impatient. She probably gets that from her mother]

Peter: [sighs softly, looking at his plate as well. He can tell] But I can talk with Scott and Derek and see what they think as well.

Malia: [glances up as she takes another bite of her pie] Thanks.

Peter: [nods. He's not sure he's ready for that, but if it helped his daughter, he would get himself there]

Malia: [finishes off her pie, before glancing out the window to see where the sun was at. Old habit with regards to trying to figure out the time] I should get home. My dad wanted me back early.

Peter: Yeah, probably best. Just leave the plates and I'll take care of it.

Malia: [she nods a bit, turning and heading towards the door before swallowing and glancing back to him for a moment] Happy Thanksgiving.

Peter: [gets up to follow her out, and she gets a grateful, small smile from him.] Happy Thanksgiving to you too, Malia.

Malia: [she nods, and with that she's off to go home]

Peter: [and he's going to contemplate things while doing dishes. And then cleaning the kitchen and bedroom until Buffy gets home.]

Buffy: [and she's wandering her way back in with some leftovers and a lot of her cooking tools and nudges the door closed behind her with her foot] Peter?

Peter: In the bedroom. [where he is folding laundry that has been sitting there for what, three days now?]

Buffy: [places some of her bags down on the counter, before making her way over and leaning in the doorway] Hey. How was your afternoon?

Peter: It was relaxing. And I had a surprised guest.

Buffy: [eyebrow raise] Good or bad surprise?

Peter: Malia brought the pie here because she didn't know what to do with it and wasn't sure about taking it home.

Buffy: So good, then. That sounds like progress.

Peter: It felt like it. [snaps out a shirt] I also heard she met Laura.

Buffy: Yes. There was a small glass casualty but it wasn't thrown or crushed, just dropped in surprise. Laura ... had a rough Thanksgiving on the teenager front, but I think they handled it well.

Peter: And here I had hoped my absence would have made it easier.

Buffy: Well, there was her adjusting to Stiles and Cora being Stiles and Cora and then surprise long lost Hale child because her siblings neglected to mention that little fact, but once the Winchesters showed up things got easier. It's also her first Thanksgiving in a long time. I'm not sure if she was ready for all those people.

Peter: [growls softly because damnit, Derek. Cora. Really? But he just sighs, focusing his frustration on the laundry] I heard there was a musical interlude?

Buffy: Yep. A very entertaining one. With robots. And tentacles. And subtext that wasn't very "sub."

Peter: Maybe I'm better off having missed it.

Buffy: [she watches him for a moment, before making her way over to sit next to him] I missed you. And I think Derek and Cora did too.

Peter: Maybe next year we will be in a better place.

Buffy: You've got a whole year to work on it.

Peter: Add it to the checklist of goals for me to work towards.

Buffy: Done. [she watches him for a moment, leaning into his shoulder a bit] What happened with Malia?

Peter: We talked. She frustrated with the lack of information on her mother, and with Laura's reaction, she wants to know if Laura knows anything that can help us.

Buffy: Entirely possible. She and Derek went for a walk, so he might have managed to get something out of her. She definitely ... had a strong reaction to her, before Malia was even introduced.

Peter: I wish I could just ask her myself.

Buffy: [nods slowly for a moment] Maybe you should.

Peter: Buffy, we talked about this... she doesn't want to see me, and I'm going to respect her choice so she can restart her life here.

Buffy: But this isn't about you. This isn't about you trying to force your way back into her life. This is about you trying to help Malia. And from what I've seen, I think Laura wants to help her too.

Peter: [his hands still a moment, holding the shirt he had just folded against her] She can tell it to Derek just as easily as she can to me. She doesn't need to see me.

Buffy: You can't avoid each other forever. You said you wanted to try and be there next year. Eventually that's going to have to start with you two being able to be in the same room together.

Peter: Yeah, but I think that's a lot to ask for with only three months of therapy under my belt.

Buffy: [she takes a deep breath, and nods] Okay. It was just a suggestion.

Peter: It's not the only suggestion that came up today though that I'm not sure if I'm ready for.

Buffy: [brow furrows a bit] Oh?

Peter: It was brought up about Talia's claws... and my asking her why she took the memory away

Buffy: [and now she's got it] Oh.

Peter: I don't know if I can do that, even if I want to know.

Buffy: [swallows as she considers for a moment] I get that.

Peter: Malia has a distaste for Talia that I can't blame her for. Talia took her away from what was her true family, and I don't even know why. Family was everything to my sister, so why she would take my child from me...

Buffy: Maybe she didn't know. [one hand comes up to rest against his back] All we really know is that you don't remember the mother. Maybe she didn't know about the baby until later.

Peter: And the only way to know is to ask her, and see if the answer is in the claws.

Buffy: But that means facing not only your sister and old alpha but Laura's mother.

Peter: And that then comes down to if it's just memories and the essence in the claws wouldn't know, or if it's an actual link to her on the other side.

Buffy: Maybe we should bring Willow in on this. If we want the most direct line, we need to talk to her, right? Maybe Willow can channel her somehow.

Peter: Maybe. [he falls silent as he moves to sorting socks, his hands trying to keep him busy]

Buffy: [watches him for a moment, before reaching forward to catch his hands and draw his attention back to her] Hey.

Peter: [looks at her hands on his, then up at her. She'll be able to see the conflict in his normal blue eyes, signs still of the man trying to heal into his mindset] I loved my sister, Buffy. And knowing she did this to me... and what I've done to her children... I don't know if I could face her.

Buffy: [she nods, her hands coming up to brush against the side of his face] The one thing we haven't heard in this is her side of the story. Maybe hearing it will make the rest of it make sense.

Peter: [nods, trying to pull himself back before he went over the emotional edge he was teetering on] Maybe.

Buffy: [she shifts a bit so that she's kneeling on the edge of the bed, pushing herself a little higher and sliding her arms around his neck, letting him curl into her if he wants to] We'll figure it out. I'm sure there's an explanation that makes sense.

Peter: [he takes the step closer, just curling into her a bit. There is a voice still inside of his head berating him for being weak and letting himself be so rattled by these emotions, but he was working on learning to ignore it as well]

Buffy: [she lets her fingers slide through his hair gently, keeping him close] We'll figure it out.

Peter: I know we will.

Buffy: If nothing else, trust me, okay?

Peter: You know I do.

Buffy: Good. [she presses a kiss to his forehead]

Peter: [sighs softly] So I need to get all the rest of these put away. You've had a long day cooking, I'm sure.

Buffy: I need to put away some stuff in the kitchen first. But maybe when we're both done we can find something on TV?

Peter: That sounds perfect.

Buffy: [she smiles] Okay. [she leans in to kiss him softly, before climbing off the bed to head back to the kitchen] I'll see you in a bit.