canon au } { post-404: the benefactor

[impetere]

Cora: [she's taking stock of the voices and presences in the house, noting where everyone is and once she decides that there were too many people in the house with the potential to overhear this conversation - including Malia (especially Malia) - she's grabbing him by the arm and hauling him out the back door, pulling him away from the house and out of earshot.]

Stiles: Hey, wait... but coffee.... Cora, I really need that right now... [and yet he's being dragged anyway]

Cora: [nope. They're going to discuss this now, because she can't let it sit anymore. She's angry and upset and she can't keep it bottled, especially not coming off the moon. She'll stop about halfway to the boathouse before turning and facing him] What the hell was that?

Stiles: What was what? The coffee?

Cora: No. Unleashing Malia. She could have killed you.

Stiles: No, she wouldn't have. I wouldn't have done it if I didn't believe in her.

Cora: You can believe in her all you want - you didn't know that! The full moon makes all of us unpredictable. [some more so than others, and she remembers all too well what that feeling of not being in control is like. Sometimes there's nothing you can do to claw your way back to yourself] What if you had been wrong?

Stiles: Then I knew you'd get me out of there and help her. But she needed someone to trust her. No one does, and Peter was supposed to help her and he disappeared off to who knows where, so I improvised. And it worked, thank you very much.

Cora: And what if I hadn't been fast enough? What if she managed to take me down to get to you? You'd be dead, she'd have more blood from people she cares about on her hands and I ... [she feels her chest tighten with the words because losing Stiles is not an option. Not for her. And she doesn't want to think of the possibilities. It'd be like Boyd all over again but a million times worse because Stiles is her heart. She doesn't think she could live without one of those] ... and I can't do that again.

Stiles: [he's all about to confront her back, but he hears the pain in those last words and sighs] I'm sorry, Cora. I wasn't thinking about that. But we can't keep locking her up either. She needs something to be her anchor, and that fear of hurting people is it. I could see it in her eyes. I knew it would work.

Cora: [she huffs a bit, before crossing her arms in front of her chest and looking away.] Yeah, well. Let me in on the plan next time. [that may have a little more to it than just what they're talking about but one issue at a time]

Stiles: [nods] Alright, I will. Can I have my coffee now?

Cora: [nods a bit, because she doesn't know how to bring up the other thing. At least not right now. That she can't just yell at him for, it needs to be done the right way and not come from a place of anger, which is pretty much all she has right now] Fine. [she glances up and spots the dock] I'm down by the lake if anyone's looking for me.

Stiles: [he blinks, because he has a feeling Cora's still mad at him, but he nods] Sure. [and he goes back to the lake house to give her the space she needs to think on whatever she's thinking on]

Cora: [she's not mad about him not telling her. She's more hurt than anything else. Like he doesn't trust her with what he's feeling or to understand and she does. More than she'd care to admit. Maybe not all of it but he never even gave her the chance to try, and that's what hurts the most. So until she can actually figure out the right words to convey that she's going to sit on the end of the dock and just stare at her reflection for a bit, toeing the surface with the end of her boot.]

Chris: [came back with Scott, had seen Stiles and Cora arguing, and goes to the dock to follow her after a bit] Cora? You okay?

Cora: [looks up at him and blinks in surprise] You're here. [... she may have been a little laser-focused since coming out of the basement.]

Chris: Scott texted me about what happened with your brother.

Cora: [exhales slowly before nodding] He'll be happy to see you. [meaning Derek, not Scott. She assumes Scott has already seen him] How's Isaac and Allison?

Chris: I hope so, though I wish it was with better reasons. [he goes to sit next to her] They're good. They're both in school in Paris at an academy there. I didn't want to take them out for this. [Allison didn't need to know about Kate]

Cora: [nods, her eyes turning back to the water for a bit. It might have been nice to see Isaac, but she can understand why] Good. [or something.]

Chris: [watches her a moment] You know, you take after your brother in your silent brooding.

Cora: [eyebrows go up as she gives him a look, before shaking her head] I'm not really good with words.

Chris: [nods] You'll get there. It takes time to learn how to express what you're thinking without giving away the feelings behind it.

Cora: [snorts a bit] No, that I can do. [because it's easy to push the feelings down and pretend they're not there] It's ... the feeling that's hard.

Chris: Would it help talking to a third party about it first? Help you get those organized?

Cora: [she takes a deep breath] When we were trying to help Malia last night Stiles brought up some stuff about the nogitsune. He hadn't told me, he ... he doesn't talk to me about it and when I knew he wasn't talking to anyone about it was fine, but ... [he doesn't trust her with it, but he will give it to Malia, tell other people, and she can't help but feel that distrust, even if that isn't what it is. there's a pause] I mean, it wasn't fine, but ... it didn't feel like it was me he didn't want to talk to.

Chris: [nods] Well, I think with that, you have to remember that Stiles did go through a very traumatic episode. But from what I've seen from him, he doesn't like people worrying about him. Maybe he just wanted to find a way to forget it himself, which is why he didn't want to bring it up or let people know.

Cora: [yeah, the problem with that is that she sleeps next to him almost every night and she knows when the nightmares happen. She should say something then, but she doesn't, just curling into him until his heart stops racing a mile a minute and he's back into the steady, slow beat of sleep] I get that. Probably a lot better than anyone else here, except ... probably Lydia. [because she was possessed by Cora's dead uncle, negating that trauma seems kind of unfair] It's just that he makes me talk about everything, and I ... I guess I'm just wondering if he doesn't trust me to be that for him. To be able to just listen.

Chris: Maybe he's so focused on everyone else, he chooses not to focus on himself. Maybe it makes him feel better not focusing on it.

Cora: So he just uses it when he needs to and pretends it never happened when he doesn't? That's not much better.

Chris: No, it's not. But you kids are dealing with things no normal kid should ever have to deal with. You're not built to handle it all, so you do the best you can to.

Cora: [she shifts slightly, pulling her legs in so that she's sitting cross-legged on the dock] I just ... I don't want it to seem like I'm making it about me. I want to help him, but I don't know how to get him to let me.

Chris: You can't help someone who doesn't want to be helped. Forcing it is only going to make the other person retreat.

Cora: So what do I do? Just pretend it didn't happen?

Chris: No, you can't. But you can't sit him down and force him to talk it out either. [he thinks a minute] Has he been showing other signs of issues since the notgitsune was destroyed?

Cora: Nightmares. Beyond that, I don't know. His poker face is better than mine sometimes.

Chris: You ever talk to his dad about it?

Cora: [pauses before shaking her head] He's got a lot on his plate right now. Apparently there's a new mass murderer in town that's not your sister. [there's a beat and she winces] Sorry.

Chris: [deep breath] Well, knowing Stilinski like I do, and as a father - he needs to know. And he's going to be the best person to back you up in helping Stiles.

Cora: [there's a pause] It feels weird, just going to his dad without talking to Stiles first.

Chris: Maybe. He’ll probably think you're going around his back. But would it be worse if you did it after confronting him about it?

Cora: I don't know. I don't want to confront him, I don't want him to think I'm mad at him. [she just wants to be there for him. Like he's there for her]

Chris: Then just be there for him. When he's ready to talk about it, he'll bring it up. You can try and lead him to it, but there's probably a good reason in his head why he hasn't mentioned it.

Cora: [exhales slowly and nods. It was easier to do that when she wasn't sure what was there. Now that she knows, she still feels like she needs to, but she knows that she can't push it either. She shifts one hand behind her to stand as she does] I should go try to call [Peter] Derek. Let him know Malia got through it okay. [there's a beat as she turns to walk away before] Thanks.

Chris: You're welcome. [a beat] You may not want to tell Scott about it right now, though. He isn't good yet at handling delicate news.

Cora: [nods a bit. she wasn't planning on that anyway. Telling his dad is one thing, but Scott is someone that Stiles should handle on his own. but with that, she'll turn and head back towards the house and into the kitchen, patting down her pockets for her phone]

Stiles: [is in the kitchen, sipping his coffee and eating a granola bar. He looks up, biting his lip a moment] You want some coffee? [his attempt at an olive branch. He looks like he feels like he's in trouble]

Cora: [he's not in trouble, she just nods a bit before moving closer with a small smile] Sure.

Stiles: [and he's up quickly to make her a cup] I also have a box of granola bars. I figured we'd be hungry when we woke up and well, I wasn't expecting there to be a keg and party food everywhere [the kitchen is a mess]

Cora: [she shakes her head] I'm not really that hungry.

Stiles: Okay. [and he's holding out a mug for her, a hesitant smile on his face]

Cora: [she gives him a small smile in return, taking the mug in one hand and his hand with the other, linking their fingers together before he can stop her.]

Stiles: [and that there makes him feel 1000% better, and he relaxes and is happy just sitting there holding her hand and drinking coffee]

Cora: [she exhales slowly as she leans into him, letting her head rest against his shoulder as she does] Have you seen my phone? [she put it down somewhere just in case Malia charged her, but she doesn't know where it is now.]

Stiles: Yeah, I think... [he goes put empty his pockets and he pulls out her phone from his back pocket] I grabbed it while I was cleaning up downstairs for Lydia.

Cora: [takes it from him with a smile, placing the coffee cup down so that she can text Peter: "Malia is fine, Stiles helped her find her anchor."] Thanks.

Stiles: No problem.

Peter: [message delivered and read, but there is no reply coming]

Cora: [that's fine, she's firing one off to Derek next to let him know they're all okay, before slipping it back into her pocket] How much damage did the party do?

Stiles: I'm pretty sure Lydia's mom is going to disown her.

Cora: [she winces] Can we fix it?

Stiles: If you still had your few millions for home repairs, maybe.

Cora: ... No, but I do have a Xander?

Stiles: That's right, you do. Um, think he could get out here. Today?

Cora: [she nods, reaching for her phone again to text him] I’ll find out.

Stiles: [and he waits, not really sure what to do. He hears Scott and Liam talking, and then a door opening and closing and then the voices are gone. he caught something about taking him home...]

Cora: [texts back and for with Xander for a bit, before glancing over to him, watching his face for a moment. Then, keeping her voice low so that it's just between them] Are you okay? [and she doesn't just mean right now]

Stiles: [is finishing his coffee, and when he hears that, he knows it's a loaded gun. He knows what she wants to talk about really and he knows he doesn't know how to explain it to her. He doesn't know how to explain it to anyone. Last night was the first time he had actually spoken about that out loud to anyone - and even now he didn't like having acknowledged it out loud. He shakes his head - whether it's an "I don't want to talk" motion, or a "no, I'm not fine".... either way it's the same in the end]

Cora: [she nods a bit as she turns so that she's standing in front of him, moving her hands to his sides and staying close. She's trying not to be threatening or make him feel like she's pushing him, and still show that he's not driving her away] I get it. I've ... been there. [the way that kind of power goes to your head, in gaining control by losing it. she glances up at him, her thumbs brushing against his ribs] If you want to, I'll listen.

Stiles: [his hand does the nervous shake it gets when he's upset, and he just puts his head against her shoulder for a bit. But he doesn't talk. he doesn't want to. Or he doesn't know how to. Because once he starts, he's not going to stop and he's afraid what would come out]

Cora: [she slides her arms around him completely, letting him burrow into her and take what he needs from her, even if it's not with words. She knows how dangerous it can be to let those feelings go, so she won't push right now. She'll just hold on and wait for him to come to her.]

Stiles: [he just takes the comfort. If he's going to talk about it, it's going to be away from everyone. Somewhere that he can keep it between them and not have to explain to anyone why he's hurting]

Cora: [that's fine. They should be getting out of here soon anyway. She's about to say something else, when there's the click of heels behind her and it turns into a soft kiss on the cheek as she turns to face Lydia. Before she can say anything] Xander is going to be here in an hour and make any repairs that need to be made.

Lydia: [blinks at her for a moment, before exhaling slowly and nodding] Thank you.

Stiles: [and he's standing up, rubbing at his eyes] Yeah, I'm totally beat and need to get some sleep. [lies] But Xander's got you covered. Thanks again for, you know. Everything. And hey, you got to throw a killer party on top of it all.

Lydia: [purses her lips at him before turning back to Cora] You should check on your brother when you get back to town. You and he both are on the list.

Cora: [presses her lips together before reaching for her phone to see if Derek's texted her back yet] I will. Thanks, Lydia.

Lydia: [she nods, before turning and starting to pick up the trash in the kitchen]