thepicketfencecliche | guardians } { of booze and families

Stiles: [and he is going to just stare into his bottle of whiskey. Because why bother with glasses?]

Cora: [is just too anxious, keeping her eyes on the rest of the room, as well as the exit, just in case something went wrong. and she hasn't touched her booze]

Stiles: [and after a bit, and enough alcohol to make him less snarly] You should probably drink that so Caroline doesn't think you're snubbing her.

Cora: [she glances down at her cup and shakes her head] I don't want to get drunk.

Stiles: One drink isn't going to get you drunk. A bit tipsy, maybe even make you form that rare smile of yours, but it's not going to make you drunk.

Cora: [she glances up at him because she didn't think anyone noticed whether she smiled or didn't before shaking her head again] I don't want to mess with my head.

Stiles: [sighs, then holds out his hand] Then give it to me and I'll drink it when she's not looking. I do want to get drunk, and it takes a lot for me to.

Cora: [pushes the cup over to him without a second thought. she never wanted the drink in the first place]

Stiles: [and when Carolina's back is to them, he will down it in one drink, wrinkling his nose] Yup, just as sweet as the first one. [and he will get the taste out with more whiskey]

Cora: [just shrugs and takes the empty cup back] Is sweet bad?

Stiles: Imagine sucking on a sugar coated lemon.

Cora: [wrinkles her nose] Okay. Sweet bad.

Stiles: This? [holds it up] Now this has a bit of a burn, but has a smooth taste. Kinda like a liquid bread. The more expensive it costs, the better it tastes.

Cora: Liquid bread?

Stiles: Yeah. You ever have bread? It's big on the human worlds.

Cora: [she nods] Yeah, I have.

Stiles: Alright, think about a nice piece of warm bread with butter on it. You know what that tastes like?

Cora: Yeah.

Stiles: Now imagne if you could take that taste and put it into liquid form and get drunk off it.

Cora: [she wrinkles her nose] Okay.

Stiles: But if you don't like alcohol, then you probably wouldn't want any. Plus you have to get used to that alcohol burn first to appreciate the taste.

Cora: Right. I think I'll pass.

Stiles: Your choice. Just means more for me. [and he will slouch back into his side of the booth and take another pull from the bottle] So you don't like alcohol, dancing, or people in general. There anything you do like?

Cora: I don't know.

Stiles: Nothing you remember from being a kid even?

Cora: Thanos took me when I was eleven. Everything after that - I don't know if it was me, or it was him. And everything before that is kind of ... hazy.

Stiles: [nods] Yeah, that feeling I know. I know it way too well. [and that's a long drink from his bottle] Fuck Thanos for doing that to you.

Cora: [she just nods and looks out at the crowd again, scanning for any sign of trouble] Right now the biggest way to do that is getting Derek and Laura back. And after that ... just getting as far away from him as we possibly can.

Stiles: Good thing space makes it easy to hide. It's big enough for you to be able to disappear into.

Cora: [she nods] I just have to get them back and not die or get brainwashed in the process.

Stiles: You know how he was doing the brainwashing? I could probably make you a thingie for your head to block it. [smiles a bit] Heh, thingie.

Cora: [she shakes her head] I don't know. I guess it was some kind of ... presence thing. I probably used one of the infinity stones he already has.

Stiles: [thinks] Yeah, I could probably figure something out. Wouldn't be able to really test it but between jobs I was work on that.

Cora: You would?

Stiles: Yeah. Why not, it'll be a challenge. Ben's ship isn't a big deal to fix as long as he doesn't keep crashing it.

Cora: [and she's a little taken aback, surprised by the gesture, but she nods] Thank you.

Stiles: [just nods, and then scratches at his ear while drinking more] How much longer you think we gotta be social before we can leave?

Cora: [she shrugs] I am the wrong person to ask.

Stiles: [looks around, and sees that Ben and Elena have both disappeared.] Well, I say since Ben's disappeared, we should too. Back door?

Cora: Works for me. [and she'll get up to follow him out]

Stiles: [and when he gets back to the ship, he's pressing buttons on his wrist bracer to start the slow and somewhat painful transformation back to looking human] I'm gonna go check on Scott.

Cora: [nods before going to settle in the common area] Why do you only pass as human on the ship?

Stiles: Mostly because I lose most of my skills when I'm this way. [which is why he stumbles over his own feet as the tail shrinks back into him] I don't know how to be human anymore. It's only good for blending in when doing a job, and working on a ship that none of the chairs are designed for a guy with a tail.

Cora: [she nods] I've always had to balance both. I guess we did things differently on Beacon Hills.

Stiles: You're also not the result of a science experiment.

Cora: Oh. [a beat] I just thought you were from Tanuki.

Stiles: I am now but not by choice. See this thing back here? [he points to the metal implant on his back] Yeah, got this for my fifth birthday. It rewrites my DNA with a tanuki gene but only the whole "raccoon" side of it. Dr. Asshole wanted to be able to control what traits I got, and it fucked my system over big time.

Cora: [and she makes a slightly horrified face at that] So the implant controls your ability to shift?

Stiles: Yeah. And I have to have this working [holds up his wrist] to do it, and I can only do certain parts. I can't turn it fully off because my organs and stuff would start dying on me. But the external stuff I can change back. Fucks with my balance and my hearing, plus some reason when I get rid of the fur I lose my strength. Can't figure out how to fix that yet but I'm still working on it. DNA isn't that different from circuitry in a lot of ways. Just need to find the right part of the mutant DNA and rewrite the programing.

Cora: [she frowns] I'd say we should go to Tanuki, but I don't know how they would react to this.

Stiles: My guess is pretty badly. But I'm doing just fine on my own. Long as no one rips this off my back, that is.

Cora: [she nods] Okay.

Stiles: Someone rips this off my back, though? If I manage to not die- probably want to get me there for any hope to save me.

Cora: I'll keep that in mind.

Stiles: [and the process is complete and he's back to looking human, and the alcohol is hitting him and he stumbles] Alright, not expecting that side effect.

Cora: [and she'll reach up to catch him, before starting to guide him back to his bunk] I guess not.

Stiles: [and he is going to giggle] Oh yeah, totally still alcohol in the blood. Awesome.

Cora: [and she can't help but smile a bit] I think it's time for bed.

Stiles: Oh yeah. Can you help me find it? Everything's blurry and not sure which hallway is which. [seeing double? check]

Cora: I think I've got it. [and she will steer him back to his bunk, and sit him down on the end] There you go.

Stiles: [and his bunk is pretty much lots of weapons and explosives and bits of wire and circuits because he is an electronics hoarder. There's also that guy's leg hanging on the wall because that was hysterical. He'll flop onto the bed and smile] Thanks, Cora. You know, you ain't all that bad anymore. Kinda nice having someone 'round here who doesn't treat me like a freak.

Cora: [she shrugs] We're all kind of freaks, in the end. Doesn't make sense to treat you like you're different because of it.

Stiles: Yeah, probably explains why we actually all work like a team.

Cora: Probably.

Stiles: [lazily nods, and then just slowly falls to the side] Okay, sleep now. [his hand goes to thump against Scott's pot to check the soil level] Night buddy.

Cora: [and she will let him pass out, before glancing around, and placing what she thinks is an empty bucket near his bed in case he needs to puke, and goes to head back to her own bunk for the night]

Stiles: [it's actually for when Scott needs a bigger pot, but yeah, that'll work. And get used.]

Cora: [poor Stiles]

Stiles: [and in the morning he will be a hung-over human hugging a cup of caf against his cheek as he keeps his head down on the table]

Cora: [and she'll wander out in search of breakfast and smirk] That's the other reason I don't like alcohol.

Stiles: [mutter grumble raccoon noises]

Cora: [and she will go fix them some food that will hopefully be easy on Stiles' stomach]

Stiles: [and his nose will sniff in the air after a moment] You cooking?

Cora: Yep.

Stiles: Smells good.

Cora: Thank you.

Stiles: When'd you learn to cook?

Cora: Laura taught me.

Stiles: Before Thanos?

Cora: [she shakes her head] Before ... before she really lost herself, I guess. But even though we're powerful, we can still be poisoned, so she didn't want me or Derek to worry about having people slip something in our food when they were preparing it for us.

Stiles: Better to make it than risk it. Gotcha.

Cora: [she nods] But ... that pretty much stopped after my mom died. So whatever she couldn't teach me, I taught myself.

Stiles: [and he's quiet for a bit] What's it like... having family?

Cora: [she's quiet as well, her head twisting to make sure no one else was coming, before shrugging as she divvies up the plates] I don't remember much of my mom. She was just ... something warm and strong, and I always felt safe. And with Derek and Laura ... our bond as siblings is pretty much all we have left of who we were. I'm not sure I'd call it much of a family, but they're all I have left.

Stiles: [he sits up, rubbing at his head a bit before looking at her] I don't have one. Least I don't think so. I only ever remember the labs. Sometimes I wonder what it'd be like.

Cora: It's a lot like this. [she gestures to the ship before bringing over a plate for each of them] You fight each other and you fight other people to stay together and at the end of the day ... you hope that something good comes out of it. And you don't leave anyone behind.

Stiles: I gotta admit, that feeling's kinda one of the perks to this gig.

Cora: [she nods] Makes sense.

Stiles: Scott's really the only family I got. [looking at the sleeping twig in the pot] And look where that got him.

Cora: [she looks over at him, and smiles softly] It didn't happen to him because of you - he did it for you. For all of us. There's a difference.

Stiles: Yeah, I know. Still feels like my fault though.

Cora: Well, you two can sort it out when he's big again.

Stiles: I have no idea how long that's going to take. [looks at the twig] I'm just glad he's taking root. Not sure if he'll be the same person or even remember any of us.

Cora: Then the least you could do is take care of him, no matter what. He sacrificed for you, so you sacrifice for him.

Stiles: Whatdya think I've been doing? [not said with the usual malice, but the usual sarcasm]

Cora: I didn't say you weren't. Not many people would see that as the obvious choice.

Stiles: Yeah, I know. Those kind of people suck. [and he's going to eat now]

Cora: [and so will she]