puppy love } { of bffs and morbid talking points

[braveandstupid]

Stiles: [watching the guys go off to walk the dogs] Somehow I think this was a big setup so you and Scott can get to actually meet the opposing BFF.

Elena: [glances over with a teasing smirk] I have no idea what would have given you that idea. [A beat] Though to be honest, Scott is getting off easy with just Matt. He still has to survive Bonnie and Caroline.

Stiles: Up until a month ago I may have debated you on that, but since February Matt and I have been working on fixing our earlier rivalry issues.

Elena: I've noticed. I was actually really pleased to hear it. From what I was hearing from Scott, you seemed like a good guy, and Matt needs some more local guy friends.

Stiles: I don't know if we'll ever hit the bff status, but I think we'll keep from trying to kill each other.

Elena: Every little step helps. [Elena smiles softly as she watches Damon bound between the two of them] He really likes what you guys do, though. I can tell. Not that I know what it is because I know he can't talk about it, but he's really passionate about it, which is important.

Stiles: Yeah, that's what happens when you work in a "tell you and I'll have to kill you" job. Welcome to the federal government.

Elena: Yeah. I'm just glad he was upfront with me about not being able to talk about it. We've kept secrets from each other in the past and it never ends well. It helps to know that it's not me.

Stiles: Nope, not just you. Scott doesn't know what I do either beyond when I have to be out of town. Had. When I had to be.

Elena: You don't go out of town anymore?

Stiles: No. I got transferred from international to national work. Which is doing wonders for my sleep patterns.

Elena: No more jet lag?

Stiles: Jet lag, crappy motels, you name it.

Elena: Well, those are definitely all perks of staying in the country.

Stiles: It also doesn't interfere with me seeing my son.

Elena: [her eyes light up a bit] You have a son?

Stiles: Yup. He's almost seven now. [and he will pull up a silly shot of Stiles and Ben from the previous weekend]

Elena: Awww, he's precious. What's his name?

Stiles: Ben.

Elena: Ben. [nods with a small smile] You guys seem really happy.

Stiles: We are. Which is amazing since I only learned I had a son maybe six months ago now.

Elena: Oh, wow! That must have ... been a doozy.

Stiles: Yeah, yeah it was that's for sure.

Elena: Did you have a falling out with his mom or something?

Stiles: No she... just didn't have the ability to tell me until recently.

Elena: Oh. [she doesn't really seem confused by that at all] That's a shame. Now you have to catch up on everything you've missed.

Stiles: Pretty much. But she did a lot to record and save things for me and my dad. There was a dropbox full of videos and photos.

Elena: Oh, that's good. I'm glad she came prepared.

Stiles: Yeah. It was better than having nothing.

Elena: [she nods] I can imagine. I was in a coma a couple years back and my friend Caroline wrote down everything for me to read when I woke up. That way I didn't miss anything.

Stiles: Sounds like you have good friends. Sorry about the coma though?

Elena: [she shrugs] Oddly enough, not the worse thing I've ever been through. It was a magical one, so it was more like taking a really, really long nap.

Stiles: [nods] Uh huh.

Elena: [her eyebrows go up a bit] "Uh-huh"?

Stiles: Sorry, I know about Mystic Falls and it's history. The joke is that Matt's from Vampire Falls and I'm from Werewolf Hills.

Elena: Ahh. So how much has Matt told you about me, exactly?

Stiles: Not much. I know more from Scott but his end teds to be about how pretty your smile is and all that.

Elena: [and that makes her smile some of that pretty smile, and she nods] Well, let's put it this way: I'm an ex-doppelganger, ex-vampire, turned magical walking vampire cure. My life has been so up and down that it's never really been mine, you know? Not until I left Mystic Falls and came here.

Stiles: And now you are just yourself and not an ex anything?

Elena: Oh, I think I'll always be an ex-something, depending on who I'm talking to. Especially when you're dealing with vampires. But right now, I'm just Elena. And I haven't really been just Elena since I was sixteen, so it's kind of nice.

Stiles: That's good to hear, though. Being your own person is a good thing.

Elena: [she nods] Yeah, it is. It's really nice to -- [and she's distracted when Damon comes bounding at her to show his love and she laughs] -- be myself.

Stiles: [laughs as well] And to be loved by someone who doesn't care about who you used to be.

Elena: [she grins as she wrestles the large dog to sit] That he does not.

Matt: [whistles for Damon to come back, showing his ball]

Elena: [and the dog's head perks up and off he goes again] Oh, I see how it is.

Stiles: I take it he's still a puppy?

Elena: In mind, if not in age. But yeah, mostly. He's almost two now?

Stiles: Yeah, you're always going to come after toys.

Elena: He likes to be where the fun is. And it's moments like that when I realize was named incredibly appropriately.

Stiles: Named after a sibling?

Elena: Ex-boyfriend. [a beat] He died, before I got the dog.

Stiles: Ah. Because if he didn't that would be kinda awkward.

Elena: Not with him. He would have taken it as a compliment. His ego was certainly big enough.

Stiles: [laughs] Well, that's good at least. He's probably the kind who says that it means you'll always have him bugging you in spirit.

Elena: [she laughs] Oh, yeah. [and there's that "sad but strong" Elena Gilbert face] But he would have wanted me to be happy more than anything. I know it, even if he would never say it.

Stiles: Well, you're doing that. I can see from just how easy it is for you to smile that you're happy.

Elena: Yeah, but it took a long time for me to get there. Loss is never easy, no matter how used to it you are.

Stiles: [goes to pick up his cup and takes a sip of his coffee, his other hand just hanging out on his leg] Nope, never is.

Elena: I guess eventually you just get tired of the funerals. [a beat] And wow, that was super morbid, I'm sorry.

Stiles: Nah, it's fine. Trust me, I've been in the same boat, so I know how it goes.

Elena: [her eyebrows go up] I really hope you haven't been in my boat.

Stiles: Well, not with being an ex-doppelganger, ex-vampire, walking vampire cure type person. But you probably notice Scott doesn't mention a lot about home beyond his mother.

Elena: No, but of Beacon Hills is anything like Mystic Falls, I don't really blame him for that. But ... that's not really the boat I was referring to.

Stiles: Well, it's part of the boat. Losing people.

Elena: [she nods] How many of those people were people that you loved? Not that that should make a difference, I know, but just curious. [which sounds slightly callous, as no life is invaluable, but no one really expects the level of loss that Elena has had]

Stiles: [licks his lips and looks down at his hand on his leg, seeing his thumb moving along the fabric already and he laughs to himself] Yeah, that's not something that's good lunchtime conversation.

Elena: [she nods a bit before leaning back against the tree] It's just ... I've lost everyone it's possible for me to lose. Some of them have come back, some haven't but ... yeah. It sucks. I was so sick of crying I actually turned off my emotions once when I was a vampire.

Stiles: [and yeah, he's just going to look very uncomfortable as he sits in his chair, holding his coffee] I'm sorry to hear that.

Elena: [she shrugs] Just, I get that it's hard to care sometimes. But if we don't care, if we don't fall in love and form friendships and live life to the fullest, then ... what's the point?

Stiles: You don't have to have a lover in your life to have a good one.

Elena: [she may side eye him a little, before shaking her head] No, not necessarily. But I think you should at least be open to it. Closing yourself off to anything because you think it might hurt you may be safe, but it's not ... fulfilling, I guess. At least not to me.

Stiles: To each their own, I guess.

Elena: [she nods] Just funny how that's the thing you picked up on out of that entire list of people.

Stiles: Well, we were talking about your dog's namebearer to begin with

Elena: True. My idiot, infuriating boyfriend who died doing what he thought was right.

Stiles: [and he's going to look over his shoulder a moment because Damon, you can bring the guys back now anytime, dog] Again, I'm sorry. Was he right though?

Elena: [she nods] Yeah. Someone needed to do it, or all of us were going to die and he didn't want it to be his brother, so he did instead.

Stiles: At least his death had a purpose. It was his choice.

Elena: True. A lot of people don't even get that.

Stiles: No, they don't. And it sounds like you can be proud of him, even if he was an idiot. [smirks]

Elena: [she smiles softly at that] Never said I wasn't. I would have done the same thing, if I wasn't comatose at the time.

Stiles: Damn those inconvenient comas. [grins]

Elena: [she laughs] Tell me about it. Still got to say goodbye, though. [a beat] Don't ask, it was a weird magic thing.

Stiles: Not asking. So, what are you doing now? I get some stuff out of Scott, but it's pretty much about how beautiful you are. He can be a bit of a lovesick doofus sometimes, but he's adorable so I keep him.

Elena: I work for the Library of Congress. Mostly doing tours and stuff.

Stiles: Do they let you play with the old books?

Elena: I have a degree in restoration, so yes.

Stiles: That's kinda awesome. Read anything good?

Elena: Mostly they just have me working on Woodrow Wilson's old letters? A vampire I used to know said he was incredibly tedious, but the man wrote all kinds of charming love letters to his wife.

Stiles: So you're pretty much reading an old guy's love letter collection?

Elena: I'm reading a president's love letter collection. And frankly I'm just grateful it's not Warren G. Harding.

Stiles: Or LBJ.

Elena: [she laughs] True, but LBJ at least was not as ... colorfully dirty as Warren G. Harding. So colorful, in fact, that a judge had to seal them for fifty years.

Stiles: Oh god, I don't think I want to know.

Elena: [she laughs] It's actually a really crazy story. They think his mistress was a German spy.

Stiles: Ah.

Elena: But yeah. President Harding had a way with words. Almost nine hundred pages worth.

Stiles: Well, I will continue to hope you never have to do Harding's stuff.

Matt: [and he and Scott, along with Damon, are starting to head back]

Elena: [looks up at them with a smile] You guys have fun?

Matt: Yeah. Though your dog is totally spoiled and Scott agrees with me.

Scott: He is, and he knows it.

Elena: [she smiles a bit as Damon curls up against her side and places his head in her lap like "I love you sooooooooo much" and she sighs before brushing a hand over the top of Damon's head] I have no idea what you mean.

Matt:]laughs] Of course not. Anyway, Stiles, we gotta head back to work. [tosses the ball to Scott] You two behave now.

Elena: [sticks her tongue out at him before turning back to Stiles] It was good meeting you.

Stiles: Good meeting you too. [gets up and shakes her hand, and then goes to pat Scott on the back] Don't do anything we wouldn't do.

Matt: If you mean together, they'll do nothing.

Stiles: Come on, you know I'm starting to grow on you...

Matt: Yeah, like a fungus. [and off they go back to work]

Scott: Anything he said about me, I wish to have the opportunity to defend myself.

Elena: [laughs a bit, before taking his hand to pull him to sit next to her] We actually talked a lot about me. Don't worry.

Scott: Oh, well that's good. [and he will go and sit down next to her, and he will lean in to give her a quick kiss] Anything I don't already know?

Elena: [hums as she kisses him back] No. We kind of wandered into how sad my life used to be by accident.

Scott: [nods] I take it that Stiles brought up home?

Elena: A little bit. We were talking about relationships and dead people. Clearly I can still kill a conversation.

Scott: Yeah - talking about those two topics are not ways to get Stiles to talk.

Elena: He just ... confused me. We managed to find our way back again.

Scott: [sighs and rubs his eyes] Stiles is one of those people who doesn't handle loss well.

Elena: No one handles loss well. Even I don't handle loss well, and I've had a lot of loss.

Scott: Yeah, he just... he has panic attacks. It started when we were kids. You... you ever hear about frontal temporal dementia?

Elena: [squints a bit because yes, actually] That's incredibly rare.

Scott: Yeah. And his mom had it. She died when he was eight after a really hard time of going in and out of the dementia. A lot of the time she would ramble that it was Stiles' fault, and he took that to heart. I mean, hearing from when he was five on that his mother blamed him for her being sick over and over again...

Elena: [her face softens a bit] Poor kid.

Scott: Yeah. So that happens and he pretty much gets uber attached to his dad because they are all that's left because his grandfather is suffering from Alzheimer’s and was an abusive dick, and none of his mother's family are alive. Plus there's always a chance Stiles will develop the dementia because it's a genetic disease. So finally, jump to sixteen where he gets his first girlfriend, Cora, and only to end up trying to be the strong one for her when hunters kills a good portion of her family. And then her older sister pretty much makes them pick up and go with maybe eight hour notice the night of prom to disappear into the ether with no contact ever again as far as we knew.

Elena: And that's why he hasn't had long with Ben.

Scott: Right. He only knows because he happened to end up in the same bar downtown that she's working in. If he didn't go there - he'd still not know.

Elena: Someone must have been looking out for him.

Scott: Yeah, well the year after she left... [sighs] I hate talking about this.

Elena: [she shifts up a bit to look at him and shakes her head] We don't have to. Or you can take comfort in the fact that I've probably lived through worse.

Scott: [licks his lips, his hand going to pet Damon] An alpha pack came into town to try and take the territory that the Hales had. Then there was a darach that was trying to kill them using this spell that threatened to kill people. This girl he'd been friends with before he even met me was one of the ones sacrificed. He's the one who identified her body. One of our other childhood friends was bitten and didn't survive the turning process to become a werewolf. [he rubs at his eyes] His Dad was almost sacrificed along with my mom and Allison's dad, but a group of druids were able to save them. But then all these other monsters came out of the woodwork in the aftermath and Stiles' dad almost died again from getting this piece of bone claw stuck inside of him poisoning him. And then Allison's mom died and he took that on himself and he just... he just changed in all that. When things started to calm down, our parents pretty much told us we needed to get out of town before it overtook our lives.

Elena: [her face softens a bit, before looking down at her hands] I know that feeling pretty well. I was the reason for a lot of the problems in Mystic Falls early on.

Scott: [he reached over to take her hand and squeeze it] It's not the end of it though. The last bit came after we left. He was going to college with me, and he was playing lacrosse but he couldn't go to an away game. On the way back, the plane was hijacked and the team died. One of the passengers was also the girl he was seeing - his first try at trying to move on and... yeah. He dropped out after that, and he got this government job. Disappeared for almost a year. Came back and he just... he wasn't himself anymore. He acts it, and I play the fool letting him think I don't see it... but it really just became too much for him, I think.

Elena: I get that. Believe me, I'm the last person to judge for shutting down after all that kind of loss. But ... if he gets stuck in this loop of not really being there, that's not going to help him, you know?

Scott: I know. I have to say, Ben's helped him a lot in that side. He's not faking it when he comes home after seeing his kid. I know the difference. I just wish Cora trusted him more to let him have more time with Ben, but she doesn't want him being alone with his son anymore. I don't know what happened, but it's upset him. I try to offer to talk to him, but that whole "can't talk about it or I'll have to kill you" thing about his job makes it hard. And he's too stubborn to listen to anyone else.

Elena: Maybe you could talk to Cora? Find out what upset her?

Scott: I could try, but then she may overreact and it will get worse.

Elena: I don't know. She might be just as worried as you are.

Scott: You think it would work?

Elena: I think you never know until you try. You knew this girl way back when. Do you really assume the worst of her that way? Or do you think she still cares about Stiles?

Scott: Knowing both of them? They are probably talking circles around each other, and either adding things to what the other says instead of just listening, or saying the wrong things at the wrong times and just keep on snowballing.

Elena: So maybe they need someone to come in the middle and translate. [a beat] Have you seen her, since they reconnected?

Scott: Not yet. I've been too busy at work. I've only met Ben once as it is.

Elena: Then maybe you should go see her. As a friend, not just because of Stiles.

Scott: He will probably get pissed and assume I'm butting in.

Elena: Then he needs to chill out. Because assuming that Cora was your friend? [she'll wait for him to confirm that]

Stiles: She was.

Elena: Then you have just as much a right to see her as he does.

Scott: True. [rubs the back of his neck] Though... we could maybe go out for drinks after work one day and just happen to end up in her bar?

Elena: We could do that.

Scott: Friday night?

Elena: Sounds perfect.

Scott: Don't let me get too drunk. [smirks]

Elena: [she laughs] I would never. [leans in to kiss him] I wouldn't want you to think I'm taking advantage of you.

Scott: Not that I would complain if you wanted to. [smiles and kisses her back]

Elena: Well, maybe I will then.

Scott: I think I'm going to look forward to Friday now. [grins]

Elena: Me too. [and we can either skip to Friday or fade on them for now tomorrow?]