puppy love } { of refueling and sharing stories

[impetere]

Cora: [so they have enough supplies to hole up for a good part of the day, but as it gets to be later in the afternoon, she sighs as she pulls away from him] Okay, I think I need an actual meal with protein if we're going to keep doing this.

Stiles: [leans up on one arm, smiling at her] I can order us something? [he can cook but mainly mac and cheese and hot dogs]

Cora: Less cooking sounds like a good plan to me. What'd you have in mind?

Stiles: [hmms as his runs his fingers along her side] I can probably get an uber delivery of burgers and fries from Five Guys.

Cora: [shivers a bit at his touch] I think that works for me.

Stiles: Alright. [and he will reach past her for his phone, kissing her shoulder as he does so, pulling up the app and then rolling on his back to set up the ordering, getting her food details before sending it] Says forty five minutes. Long enough for us to probably take a shower and get dressed so we don't give the delivery kid a show.

Cora: [probably a good plan. she nods and slowly starts to shift into a sitting position and grabbing her bathrobe from where she deposited it earlier]

Stiles: I'll go second. I should probably check work e-mails in case I missed something.

Cora: [she nods again] Okay. I'll be quick. [and she will disappear into the shower and do her best to save him some hot water]

Stiles: [and he will go through his mail, send Scott a text that YES, he is fine. Yes, he is in the country, and he will explain it all when he gets home. Somewhere around Sunday.]

Cora: [shower shower shower and she'll come out smelling fresh and clean before going for comfy clothes] Your turn.

Stiles: [and he will grab his clothes, having already put the boxers back on] Alright. Anyone on the couch I need to worry about?

Cora: [she shakes her head] Malia's probably still up at the house for the weekend.

Stiles: Good. Though I'm going to have to leave an overnight bag here now just in case. [smiles as he heads to the door] Be back in a minute.

Cora: [smiles a bit too, but that's going to be one of those things that they're going to have to talk about. She'll just bundle up in a pair of yoga pants and throw on his old lacrosse sweatshirt without even thinking about it, before going to curl up on the couch and deal with her boss.]

Stiles: [and he will come back out, pants on, no shirt as he's rubbing his hair dry] Need to get you a better water heater.

Cora: [sympathetic face] Sorry. I'll talk to my landlord.

Stiles: [and he is going to go sit next to her, smiling as he stretches his back a bit.] So what should we do until the food gets here?

Cora: [shifts to face him more] We should probably figure out what we're going to tell Ben?

Stiles: Well, what do you want to do? You know better than I do on how he'd take this kind of news.

Cora: I think he'd be thrilled. But I also worry about how disappointed he'll be if it doesn't work, especially since we're starting over again.

Stiles: Do you think we'd be able to keep it from him until we figure us out?

Cora: I think so. But it's gonna involve stuff like restraint and willpower.

Stiles: So pretending we're not together around him.

Cora: Not ... pretending, necessarily, but not mentioning it and not being physically affectionate with each other when he's in the apartment.

Stiles: [nods] Yeah, we're not good at not holding hands or kissing when we're together. You're grabby. [smirks]

Cora: [gives him a bit of a look] I think I have more willpower than you think. [but moving on] I don't want to lie to him so if he asks, we can try and explain it to him, but ... I don't want to sit him down and tell him first until we know what we're doing and how far this is going to go.

Stiles: You don't want to get his hopes up. I get it.

Cora: [sighs] I know it's not going to be easy. But I think it's doable. [a beat as she inches closer] We'll just have to make time for each other.

Stiles: I can make the time. My extracurricular schedule just became wide open now that I'm not doing international travel.

Cora: [she nods] And Ben already has standing nights with your dad and my dad so that's two nights we can have "us" time. I'm also going to be switching to days soon so my nights will be more free.

Stiles: And I already babysit Thursdays until you come home until you get the day shifts. I'll work my schedule to go with yours so we can have that time. [and he is going to playfully guide her into his lap, and then look up at her] We missed way too much time - so whatever time I find, I'm making it up to you.

Cora: [and she will go easily, leaning in to kiss him gently] Good. I feel the same way.

Stiles: [and he will kiss her back, keeping it light and playful until his phone buzzes that the driver is there] Yeah, I'll be right down.

Cora: [sighs and slides off him so that he can go get their food]

Stiles: [and he will toss on his shirt and head downstairs - yes bare foot - and come back with the bag and food] Dinner is served.

Cora: Yum. [and she will reach for her burger and resettle so that they have safe to eat] So how do you think Scott and your dad are going to take it? [because she's still unsure where she stands with them sometimes]

Stiles: Well Scott will be ecstatic. He's been bugging me why I haven't asked you out since I found you. Of course he didn't know about the spy stuff.

Cora: Makes sense. [there's a beat] And your dad?

Stiles: Probably warn me to be careful. Take it slow. Don't just dive in and risk getting my heart broken again. [dips a fry in ketchup]

Cora: I don't want to break it again.

Stiles: I don't want either of ours to break again. [he focuses on his fry] I just don't handle loss well. But lucky for us I'm required to still see a CIA shrink for the next five years as part of my separation.

Cora: Good. That's good.

Stiles: I should probably tell you about some of the stuff from back then. Just so you aren't taken off guard.

Cora: [she nods] Okay. Tell me.

Stiles: Well... for starters I can speak three languages besides English fluently, and about dozen more enough to get by.

Cora: You'll fit in the Hales just fine then. [a beat] Do not have conversations about me with my brother in another language while I'm in the room.

Stiles: I can't promise that if he starts it first.

Cora: [grumbles] Okay, what else?

Stiles: Well.... so I've broken my nose three times. Two ribs, and I actually don't have my spleen anymore.

Cora: Well, you don't need your spleen.

Stiles: That's what I said. But it left me a good scar. I've got a bunch if you didn't notice.

Cora: I did notice.

Stiles: I have three very bad habits that are probably going to take me awhile to get rid of. First is that whenever I walk into a place, I just visually access the room and put myself in a place where I am able to blend in and access at least two exits.

Cora: That's not a bad habit.

Stiles: Well, I'm doing it to make sure I'm not being followed and able to escape any traps. But yeah.

Cora: That's why it's not a bad habit.

Stiles: .... Yeah, you would actually understand that. And second - which you may not like so much - i usually sleep with a knife under my pillow. It's in the sheath, and at least it's not a gun because that's what I do overseas, but it's a habit. So if you come over to my place, if I don't remember to hide it....

Cora: Also ... not a bad habit? Just make sure it's not somewhere Ben can get to it.

Stiles: Oh yeah, of course. And I have my guns locked up in the floorboard safe so he won't be able to get at them.

Cora: Good. [a beat] Anything else?

Stiles: Um.... well you probably won't mind the fact that I usually sleep naked.

Cora: [she laughs] No, not usually.

Stiles: [thinks] Oh. Um, I should probably tell you about the accounts I have. Accounts no one - not even my ex-bosses know about.

Cora: What kind of accounts?

Stiles: Bank accounts. Bug out accounts. When I was still in training, we had a job that, well, we ended up with a few million dollars that team lead distributed to us to make accounts in case we were ever unmasked or thrown under the political bus. So I still have them, and they are legit and mine under three different assumed names. One is in Germany, another in Poland and I think the third is in Croatia.

Cora: Okay. Good to know.

Stiles: But um, my IDs and cards for them are in a backpack in a German bus station. So one day I am going to have to go to Germany - probably without you just in case.

Cora: Okay. Just let me know when.

Stiles: I will. Probably won't for a while anyway because I don't want to exboss to know. But in total it's about seven hundred grand.

Cora: Damn.

Stiles: [rubs the back of his neck] Yeah. And just so you know, I'm sure I have other secrets like this but sometimes I don't remember them when I'm not in the field so it's not that I'm not telling you, I just got good at compartmentalizing the two worlds separate from one another.

Cora: [she nods] Okay. Just ... make sure you tell me before I can be blindsided by them.

Stiles: I will do my best not to.

Cora: Good. Then we'll be okay.

Stiles: [and he smiles] So you have any secrets I should know about from the time you were away from me? [and he will eat his burger]

Cora: Well, you already know the big one. [aka Ben]

Stiles: Yeah.

Cora: [takes a deep breath] Laura and I aren't as close as we used to be. We fought a lot, especially after I got pregnant, and moving out here was mostly to get out of the house and put some space between us.

Stiles: I'm sorry to hear that.

Cora: [she shakes her head] We weren't really that close to begin with. She was always closer with Derek. But they sort of came to a head after we left Beacon Hills.

Stiles: Derek and Laura?

Cora: No. Things with me and Laura. [there's a beat] There's probably a lot we need to get out in the open, so if there's anything you want to know, just ask.

Stiles: Well, to be honest I'm probably never going to like your sister. I mean, she made you keep Ben a secret from me. I can't forgive that.

Cora: That's fair. I don't expect you to. Just try not to pick a fight with her when Ben's around? Even if we don't like her, he may need to respect her as alpha one day, and she does love him a lot.

Stiles: We survived Christmas, so I think we'll be okay. [he reaches across to her] And I don't blame you in the end. You were also just doing what your alpha told you.

Cora: [she nods as she uses that reach to move closer and curl up with him] That's good. Because I worried about that a lot, especially with your dad. I was worried that he wouldn't understand.

Stiles: No. I mean, at the very beginning I was, but I may not remember a lot of pack dynamics, but the alpha in charge I do. And I know you wouldn't have wanted Ben to not know who his father was. And the dropbox shows how much you wanted to make sure I saw.

Cora: I wish I could have told you sooner.

Stiles: I wish I could have been there for you. I know you had your family, but I would have wanted to be there.

Cora: I know. I wanted you there too.

Stiles: I wish I knew how it happened though. I mean, we never did it without protection.

Cora: Condoms aren't perfect though. There's still a twelve percent chance.

Stiles: [blinks] Twelve?

Cora: That's what my OBGYN told me.

Stiles: So one out of every eight can have a problem... that's not at all comforting.

Cora: That's why most girls usually are also on the pill. But I can't take it because of my metabolism.

Stiles: I know. So we already gone through six condoms. Should we risk it?

Cora: [she glances up with a shrug] I think it's a risk worth taking. Do you?

Stiles: First one turned out adorable. I'm sure when it happens again, he or she will be just as adorable. But it's your body, so your choice.

Cora: [she takes a deep breath as she shifts to straddle him] Well, we had sex what? Fifteen or sixteen times before Ben happened? [she shrugs] Averaging about once a week from Sadie Hawkins to prom?

Stiles: We could be just fine then.

Cora: I think so. [leans in to kiss him gently]

Stiles: [smiles and kisses her back again, tasting her and their dinner on her lips]

Cora: [and she'll kiss him a bit, before she pulls back again] I know I'm distracting you but anything you want to know about the last seven years, anytime, all you have to do is ask.

Stiles: [rubbing his hand along her cheek] I just can't believe you didn't find anyone.

Cora: [she shrugs as she leans into his hand] I'll admit, I didn't look very hard. I knew what I wanted, if that makes any sense.

Stiles: No, it makes perfect sense. But you give your brother such a hard time for having the same thought.

Cora: [she looks down a bit, before shrugging] I know it's dumb.

Stiles: You're trying to protect him. That's not dumb.

Cora: I know it's not Allison's fault. I just ... it's not him I'm protecting.

Stiles: Ben?

Cora: And me. [she gives a small shrug] When Derek and Allison were together - or trying to be together - I usually wound up being the brunt of whatever went wrong. And I know he's grown up since then and things have changed but ... I still don't like the person my brother became when he was with her. I know it's not Allison's fault, but ... I don't want to think that ... that is the version of my brother that I may have to live with forever. As I said. It's dumb.

Stiles: Well, in everything that happened after you left, Allison and I pretty much became like siblings. We had each other's backs as we tried to deal with everything. I was there for her when her mom died. She was there for me when Paige and Heather... and the two times my dad almost bit it. She's changed a lot. And she.... she keeps Derek at arms length because she doesn't want to make him put her over you, or make him break promises to appease the other side. [sighs] She hasn't really been with anyone either. We joke that you Hales ruined us for other people. [small smile]

Cora: [she ducks her head a bit] It's nothing against her. I might have even liked her, if things were different. But every time I see her is this knee-jerk reaction.

Stiles: [takes her hand] Can I be honest?

Cora: [she nods]

Stiles: I think you two should get to know each other. She and I are family. We only have or dads left - which if you don't know, both Gerard and Kate argent are dead. But... I think it may help you both to get that chance to know each other without Derek involved. Because I don't want you upset at me about her either. And I want to see her happy just like you want to see your brother happy. And then we can be a fabulous family of four. Well, six counting Ben and Baal.

Cora: I don't know. I'll think about it.

Stiles: [leans in to kiss her] Not going to pressure you on it. Just want to try and get things healed for more than just us.

Cora: [she nods and kisses him back] I get that. But right now, I just want to focus on us.

Stiles: I'm good with just us. I really would rather not have that kind of foursome.

Cora: You and me both.

Stiles: [laughs and kisses her again] So I'm refueled. You?

Cora: [nods with a grin] I'm ready if you are.

Stiles: Come on, we have three more condoms to find out if the percentages are wrong [laughs]

Cora: [she laughs and moves to slide off him] Let's do it.

Stiles: [and they will go off and burn all that fast food off]

Cora: [yep, lots of exercise]