Lydia is ten when she starts
dreaming of the…girl. Woman? It isn’t clear how old the girl is, or rather, the
girl appears at various ages in various dreams.
Sometimes the girl is young, a
toddler scrambling through underbrush, entangling in the leaves and bramble as
her family gives friendly chase. Dirt on red cheeks and twigs in wild hair. Innocent
smiles as she catches her breath.
Sometimes she’s older,
surrounded by younger siblings that clamber all over her, until she collapses
under the weight of their enthusiasm as they beg for warm cuddles on chilly
nights where the air nips at exposed skin.
Sometimes she’s not human. Eyes
that flash in different colors – red is alphamothersafetypower, yellow is packfamilycomfort,
blue is unknowndanger. Claws that grow out of human fingers, faces that
transform. Impulses that are hard to control as the moon tries to call out her
deepest, darkest desires.
When Lydia first starts
dreaming, trying to remember the dreams is like trying to catch a wave with
bare hands. The moment she wakes, memories start slipping out of her grasp,
until only hazy emotions remain – and those fade away too, as surely as hands
wet from a wave dry up. There’s no way for a human to capture a full wave but
there are ways to hold onto part of it. Cup your hands and have a container
ready to fill up with seawater. Lydia begins writing down the dreams the moment
she wakes up, neat words trying to bottle up loose trickles of memory.
There’s a journal Lydia starts
keeping, kept under her mattress for safety and secrecy, that tells the life of
a girl, a werewolf, as seen through the kaleidoscope lens of Lydia’s dreams. She
has no name – there is no sound in these dreams Lydia has, only emotion – but
she has a story. –
For Laura Hale Appreciation Week 2018 @laurahale-appreciation, fulfilling today’s theme of Femslash. (But also the previous days’ themes of Laura Didn’t Die and Pre-Canon.) Set in an AU where Laura is the one in a coma, and is connected to Lydia. On the backburner to be fleshed out into a full fic.
Okay so I’ve been drinking wine all night and binge-watching The Great British Baking Show, and I remembered that I’ve been meaning to not!fic about the pack going to one of those wine and painting places.
Really, it’s just Team Human that’s going to go—Stiles, Allison, Lydia (she’s honorary Team Human), and Danny—because they’re the only ones who are going to enjoy the wine and they’re not going to be overwhelmed by the smell of acrylic paint and the loud music. But Scott makes horrible puppy dog eyes when he finds out they want to go and Erica practically begs to be included as well and that means Boyd and Isaac are going to want to go, so Derek throws up his hands and buys everybody a seat and calls it a “pack bonding exercise.”
They get there and they take up almost an entire table all by themselves, and the rest of the pack swaps the paper plate name badges around until they’re sitting in the order they want to sit in, and this means that Derek and Stiles end up sitting next to each other at the very end of the table. Stiles snarks that he’s surprised Derek wants to paint something with colors other than black and Derek snarks that Stiles is already halfway through a glass of wine the size of his head, and then the instructor gets up and starts talking and it’s time to start painting.
Stiles is, unsurprisingly, a faster painter, covering his canvas in black almost as fast as the instructor is. He’s fantastic with blending the paint together to make it like the moon fades seamlessly into the night sky.
Derek’s a lot more meticulous. He’s slower and much more concerned with getting his outlines absolutely precise. The detail he manages to get with the smaller brushes is frankly astonishing, as far as Stiles is concerned.
(Stiles also happens to hear, more than once, Derek singing quietly along to whatever song happens to be playing over the loudspeakers when the instructor isn’t talking. His personal favorite is when he hears Derek singing “Don’t Stop Me Now.”)
It’s just as noisy as Derek expected it to be, and he really doesn’t like the smell of the paint that much, but what he smells from his pack is pure happiness and joy. Scott’s got a streak of blue paint on his cheek that might have been put there deliberately. Allison is almost through her first glass of wine and is laughing at something on Lydia’s canvas. Boyd, Erica, and Isaac all seem to be collaborating on one giant painting instead of following along with what the master painting is. Danny is well into his second glass of wine and playing Pokemon Go while he’s waiting for his paint to dry, pausing occasionally to assure Jackson he’s doing a good job. Even Cora, who likes to pretend she’s too cool for this kind of stuff, is getting into it.
And Stiles is sitting right by him, the tip of his tongue peeking out of his mouth as he very carefully paints a lake monster climbing up onto the dock behind the two figures sitting at the edge, a glass of wine between them.
Honestly, it’s a better pack bonding exercise than Derek ever expected it to be.
Everybody is thrilled with their paintings when they’re done, and they’re splitting up to head home when Stiles taps Derek on the shoulder and holds out his painting.
Derek is not drunk, but he has been filtering out ridiculous levels of noise all night, so he blames that for why he sits there for a minute and finally says, “What?”
Stiles shakes the painting. “Here, big guy. I made it for you. Used lots of pretty colors and everything. That’s supposed to be us at the edge of the dock.”
“You painted us getting attacked by a lake monster,” Derek points out.
“No, we’re totally going to take it out!” Stiles argues. “Besides, you have to admit, that’s probably how a night on the lake would end for us.”
Derek snorts. Stiles isn’t wrong.
Without thinking too hard about it, he hands his painting to Stiles. “Here.”
Stiles blinks at it. “For me?”
Derek shrugs. “You should have one, too. Without the lake monster.”
Stiles breaks out into a gigantic grin that is likely at least 50% the wine he’s had and 100% guaranteed to make Derek’s heart do somersaults. “Thanks, Derek.”
“Anytime,” Derek says, and prays it’s dark enough outside that no one can see that he’s blushing.
(He hangs Stiles’s painting in his bedroom and ignores every lewd comment Erica makes about it. He feels more than vindicated when he visits Stiles’s apartment and sees the painting he drew hanging right above Stiles’s bed.)
feel free to request away
–
1. “Why are we at a strip club?”
2. “I’m sorry, you said what to your teacher?”
3. “Am I dead?”
4. “It’s always been you. You and only you.”
5. “If you loved me, you’d fight for it. If you loved me, you’d show it. If you loved me, you’d fight for me. Do you even know what love is?”
6. “Stay with me.”
7. “How about we put the gun down and talk about this?”
8. “I came here to kick ass and chew gum.. and I’m all out of gum.”
9. “Whatever it is I didn’t do it.”
10. “Don’t make me regret saving you.”
11. “Are you-are you flirting with me?”
12. “I’m proud of you. I’m proud of us.”
13. “I trusted you.”
14. “Am I supposed to be impressed?”
15. “Don’t tempt me.”
16. “I’m going to kiss you now.”
17. “Is that my shirt?”
18. “Would you quit moving around?” “It’s not my fault we’re tied up together!”
19. “Does your life revolve around embarrassing me?”
20. “I can’t do this anymore.”
21. “Do you smell burning?”
22. “Look at the sky.”
23. “I didn’t know you could do that.”
24. “I will not hesitate to murder you.”
25. “It’s simple really. Here let me show you.”
26. “I’m pretty sure that’s not how it works.”
27. “Hey have you seen my- Oh.”
28. “Go to hell.” “Already been but thanks for the invite.”
29. “Look at me.”
30. “Go away! I don’t ever want to see you again!”
31. “Don’t tell me how to calm down, you calm down!”
32. “Where did you get that?”
33. “Oh my gosh is that blood?”
34. “What are you doing here by yourself?”
35. “Here, take my hand. Everything is fine, just hold onto me and keep moving.”
36. “I don’t know who I am without you.”
37. “You don’t need to protect me.”
38. “Stop looking at me like that!”
39. “I can’t believe you talked me into this.”
40. “All I wanted was the truth.”
41. “I had a nightmare about you, and I wanted to make sure you were alright.”
42. “You make me feel like I’m not good enough.”
43. “I told you not to fall in love with me.”
44. “I forgive a lot, but I never forget what was said and done.”
45. “Again?”
46. “Please shut up. Just shut up.”
47. “I’m tired of being your secret.”
48. “You know, it’s okay to cry.”
49. “Go on, tell me. Tell me you don’t love me.”
50. “I just want to be alone right now.”
51. “Those things you said yesterday.. did you really mean them?”
52. “Just say it is okay. I just need to hear you say that.”
53. “I love you and I am terrified.”
54. “Promise me you’ll come back.. I need you to promise me.”
55. “That’s distracting.”
56. “I think I picked up your coffee by mistake.”
57. “Wait a second.. are you jealous?”
58. “This is by far the most stupid plan you’ve ever created. Of course I’m in.”
59. “You did this for me?”
60. “I’m afraid this conversation is going to end in goodbye.”
61. “Would you just hold still?”
62. “We’re running low on time here.”
63. “You’ve got something on your cheek.”
64. “I’m not bothering you, am I?”
65. “Really, right now?”
66. “Wait, you’re my soulmate?”
67. “I really wish you told me your mother was in town.”
68. “You’re wrong and I’ll prove it.”
69. “I can never say no to a picnic.”
70. “I could tell it was your favorite book from all the notes you wrote in the margins.”
71. “I never imagined myself in a wedding dress.”
72. “I’m yours, in every way possible.”
73. “We’re not just friends, and you know it.”
74. “Well. Yell, scream, say something, anything.”
75. “Where do you think you’re going?”
76. “Nobody thinks what I think.”
77. “Despite what you think, I am completely capable of taking care of myself.”
78. “Just please be my best friend right now, and not the person I confessed my love to.”
79. “I think you’re just afraid to be happy.”
80. “Make me.”
81. “Well if you insist.”
82. “We’ll get through this, I promise.”
83. “I can’t believe you don’t like Disney movies.”
84. “You’re lucky you’re cute.”
85. “Sometimes I really dislike you.”
86. “You’re getting crumbs all over my bed.”
87. “It’s too early for this.”
88. “But then I’d have to put pants on..”
89. “If my parents knew what I was doing they’d kill me.”
90. “Are you trying to make me to hate you? Because it’s working.”
91. “Don’t open those till later!”
92. “For some reason I’m attracted to you.”
93. “To be honest I could care less.”
94. “Go on then, tell me. Tell me you don’t love me.”
95. “Hold my hand, we have to make this look convincing!”
96. “I’ll make it right for you.”
97. “When you smile I fall apart.”
98. “I don’t know what I did to deserve you.”
99. “I really don’t know why I’m crying.”
100. “I won’t let you fall.”
101. “I’m like 20% sure this plan work. There’s an 80% chance we could die horribly and violently, but this plan is solid, I swear.”
102. “I’m not happy here.”
103. “I’m so stupid to make the mistake of falling in love with my best friend.”
104. “I’m tired of being your secret.”
105. “Well if you’re up for the challenge.”
106. “I’ve moved on.”
107. “I’ve seen the way you look at me when you don’t think I can see you.”
108. “If I die, I am coming back to haunt you.”
109. “If you don’t want to talk about it then say so. Don’t lie and pretend to be fine when you clearly aren’t.”
110. “If you walk out that door don’t you dare think about coming back.”
111. “Is that a challenge?”
112. “Is it supposed to look like that? Are you sure?”
113. “I made you cupcakes cause I knew you liked them.”
114. “Is there something you want to tell me?”
115. “I mean, it could be worse.”
116. “This wasn’t supposed to happen like this.”
117. “This was all a dream?”
118. “It’s not what it looks like.”
119. “It’s okay I’m here for you.”
120. “Wait, you did what again?”
121. “Just talk to me.”
122. “Just leave me alone!”
123. “Let him go! It’s me who you want!”
124. “My parents asked about you again.”
125. “Make a wish.”
126. “None of this makes sense.”
127. “None of that matters anymore.”
128. “Wait this is your handwriting? I thought this was hieroglyphics.”
129. “Not a day goes by that I don’t think of you.”
130. “Oh my god! You’re in love with her!”
131. “Please don’t give up on me.”
132. “Please listen to me.”
133. “Please don’t go.”
134. “Please.. I love you.”
135. “Please, take me instead!”
136. “Please don’t leave me.”
137. “Please don’t argue with me.”
138. “Promise me you’ll take care of her/him.”
139. “Promise me you’ll take better care of yourself.”
140. “Promise me you’ll stay.”
141. “Why are you taking so many photos?”
142. “I didn’t know you could play.”
143. “You can sing?”
144. “Teach me how to play?”
145. “Are you okay?” “Why do you ask?” “Because you’re wearing two different shoes.”
146. “Want to talk about it?”
147. “I just really miss talking with you.”
148. “Things don’t always turn out the way we want them to.”
149. “This isn’t just about you. It’s about what’s best for all of us.”
150. “You made me what?”
151. “Times up!”
152. “There’s something I need to tell you.”
153. “We could’ve had it all.”
154. “Are you sure you two aren’t married?”
155. “Well.. don’t keep me waiting.”
156. “Please look at me.”
157. “What have I ever done to you?”
158. “What are you doing here?”
159. “When are you going to realize I don’t care?”
160. “When you love someone, you just don’t stop. Ever. Even when people stop to roll their eyes or call you crazy.. even then. Especially then!”
161. “Where did that cat come from?”
162. “Where did you get this from?”
163. “Why are you up so early?”
164. “Why can’t they see they’re meant for each another?”
165. “Why did you choose me?”
166. “Why don’t you say it to my face?”
167. “Why couldn’t you come to me with your problems?”
168. “Would you stop for a second so I can say something to you for once!”
169. “You need to calm down.”
170. “I know you told me to stop thinking about you, but I can’t get you out of my mind.”
171. “You are nothing like them.”
172. “You were the greatest thing that ever happened to me.”
173. “I never believed in love till I met you.”
174. “I don’t need a Prince Charming saving me.”
175. “You can’t sit on the sidelines your entire life!”
176. “You deserve so much better.”
177. “You did all of this for me?”
178. “You take my love for granted.”
179. “You haven’t even touched your food.. what’s going on?”
180. “You know my name?”
181. “You need to wake up because I can’t do this on my own.”
182. “Stay the night. Please.”
183. “What did you say?”
184. “Why are you so annoying?”
185. “Don’t ask me that.”
186. “Don’t ever mention that again.”
187. “What’s with the box?”
188. “Say it!”
189. “Stop pinning this on me! You started it!”
190. “Did you do this on purpose?”
191. “Don’t give me that look! You started it!”
192. “It’s not fair!”
193. “I could kill you right now!”
194. “Don’t you dare give me that look!”
195. “Screw you!”
196. “Just shut up already.”
197. “You are so infuriating.
198. “Listen to me!”
199. “I dare you!”
200. “Please pretend to be my girlfriend/boyfriend.”
201. “You think I’m insensible enough to fall for that?”
202. “I’m not going to apologize. I can’t anymore.”
203. “Is this seat taken?”
204. “It’s midnight, what do you want?”
205. “You are strangely comfortable.”
206. “Imagine if it could always be this way, even in the city.”
207. “I don’t know how to feel any more.”
208. “At what point did you think that was a good idea?”
209. “Just marry me already.”
210. “Did I stutter?”
211. “Did I just say that out loud?”
212. “Did you hear that.”
213. “Don’t say you love me.”
214. “Don’t you ever do that again.”
215. “Everyone deserves a second chance.”
216. “I try so hard to forget you, but every single time it comes back to you.”
217. “H-How long have you been standing there?”
218. “Hey, I’m with you, okay? Always.”
219. “I didn’t ask for any of this! But do you know what I put up with it all? Because I love you!”
220. “I just need you here with me right now.”
221. “I love you. I’ve loved you since the moment I laid eyes on you and- Oh screw it!”
222. “We can’t lose each other, we just can’t.”
223. “I’ve never felt this way before and I’m terrified to be honest.”
224. “I never meant for anyone to get hurt.”
225. “I waited and waited, but you never came back!”
226. “I’m sick of feeling useless!”
227. “Is that what you call an apology?”
228. “Is there anything you want to tell me?”
229. “Somebody’s in love!”
230. “It’s not what it looks like.”
231. “Just hold me.”
232. “You’re the best part of me.”
233. “I don’t want to think about what I’d be like without you.”
234. “Can I hold your hand?”
235. “Let’s go get lost somewhere.”
236. “I just don’t know how to look forward anymore.”
“The outfit Shuri is wearing in this scene features an Adinkra symbol (cultural visual symbols from the Asante/Ghana region of Africa) on it. This Adinkra symbol means ‘purpose,’ and she certainly has a purpose in Wakanda.”
theproblemwithstardust 