Who: Kate and Stiles What: Portal Business When: Recently, during the Portal Plot Where: Feudal Japan Warning: Low/None Status: Completed via Gdoc
Kate had never been to Japan, feudal or otherwise. When she found out that the portal was taking people there, she scheduled a time when she wasn’t working to go with Stiles. Then she picked him up in her new car. (Okay, well, new to her car, as it was Linda’s car, and she was just sort of … using it. Better to have a set of wheels to take Charlie to the library and the park and the supermarket and whatnot.)
Together they went to the portal and crossed through.
For the first few minutes, Kate was afraid to let go of Stiles’s hand. She didn’t want to lose him--didn’t want to be stuck in the past ever again. Together they walked along, inspecting.
“I was … I was sort of thinking this place would be in sepia tone.” She admitted, almost sheepishly. “What do you think?”
***
“I think it’s cool,” he said, squeezing her hand. “I mean, I get what you mean with the Sepia thing but that wouldn’t really be very realistic, you know?” He looked around him at the blooming cherry trees and the small village that they approached. He smelled cooking food, and being a teenage boy, his stomach growled hungrily.
“Why don’t we go get something to eat? I mean, they’ve gotta have stuff here that we don’t have in Madison Valley, right?”
***
Kate grinned softly, cheeks tinging pink. “Nah, not really realistic.” She swung their twined hands between them back and forth a bit as they walked. “But still, a cool visual, right?” In her mind whenever she thought of the past, it was always sepia tone. Still, this world--this time, this country--was absolutely beautiful.
“Something smells good,” she breathed, having missed the grumbling of his tummy, but caught the scent on the breeze. “Yeah, I’m sure. Maybe… fish? I mean, Japan does that, right? Sushi?”
***
“Um…yeah, but I’m not sure when they started doing that.” Stiles really kind of hoped that they started after this time in history since he really really didn’t like sushi and might have gotten a little grossed out about it if he had to pretend he liked it. Which, of course, he would if Kate was here and he was trying to impress her. Of course, she already knew a lot of his wimpy sides, so maybe she’d forgive him for that.
“But fish…yeah, fish sounds good, right?”
Cooked fish, please.
***
Hey, there were vegetarian options when it came to sushi. And cooked fish, too. But Kate wasn’t a mind reader and had no idea what was going on inside Sitles’s head. All she knew was that whatever it was that was cooking smelled good.
“Somehow I doubt we’re gonna get teriyaki or tempura or something… but we can see what the village has to offer. And then… I don’t know. Enjoy the cherry blossoms? We could have a picnic, or something.” That was romantic, right? What else were their options in feudal Japan? Oh! Kate could totally become a samurai.
***
“A picnic would be nice. Unless there are like… tons of bees around those cherry blossoms.” Did Japan have bees? He’d never been there, but he figured if they had flowers and blooming trees that they had to have bees too.
“Think we’re old enough to drink?”
Did they have an official drinking age?
***
“I’m sure there are bees, I’m just not sure about tons,” Kate mused as they made their way closer to the village. Of course, she couldn’t read Japanese at all--especially not ancient Japanese--if there were words on the signs outside of the shops and things. They could just follow their noses, though, to find the place where that fish was being cooked.
“I dunno about you, Stiles Stilinski,” Kate teased, “but I’m old enough to drink back home, too.” They were a couple years apart. Not too many for things to be awkward between them, but enough to put her on one side of legal drinking, and him on the other. “Besides, in some places in the middle ages, drinking beer was safer than drinking water. I wonder if it’s the same here. Probably best if we stick to bottled water.”
***
“I hope you brought some bottled water, because I’m not sure if they have any of that here.” He grinned a little. Of course they wouldn’t. But he could probably sneak in and have a beer anyway. Not that he particularly liked the flavor of it, but it would at least get him by without dying of some horrible disease like typhoid or cholera. The past really sucked in some ways.
“So, where do you want to go? Lead the way. I can’t read a single sign, except that one that has an animal or something on it. Yeah, yeah, can’t read that one either, just know it’s an animal.”
***
“Beer it is.” She gave him a little smirk at that.
Kate paused, looking up and down the little street between the houses. She made up her mind about the house with the sign that was some kind of an animal (pig?) and headed that way, tugging Stiles along with her. Turns out the house was some kind of a restaurant? In Feudal Japan they wouldn’t have spoken English at all, but there was some kind of magic over the people here, so when Kate offered money in exchange for food, they obliged. They even gave them some kind of Japanese beer to go with it. Kate wrapped it all up so they could take it with them on their picnic.
A very helpful patron of the establishment offered the happy couple the suggestion of a location for a romantic picnic. It wasn’t far, only a few minutes walk down stream.
***
Stiles watched as Kate figured out their food and drink for the day. There had to have been some weird translation thing going on with the portal…because much to his surprise he could understand the vast majority of what was happening around him. Weird.
When they had everything in hand, he took some of it (he wasn’t going to let her carry it all) and followed the stream to a nice little clearing that looked lovely and not too full of bees.
“Here? This is nice?”
There were cherry blossoms blooming nearby, but not too close.
***
“Here is nice,” Kate agreed. She moved over to the smooth stone that was sunwarmed, but partially shaded. Laying out a large piece of cloth, she settled down and set out the food. It was a nice picnic: fruit, grilled vegetables, fish cooked on a stick, and beer.
“It’s so… quiet,” she added, almost afraid to lift her voice to break the still. “I wonder how many stars we’re going to see when it gets dark. Y’know? Without all the light interference?”
***
“Are we still going to be here after dark?” Stiles hadn’t really been expecting to stay that long, although if Kate wanted to, he supposed that he would. “It might be kind of creepy, you know. I mean, no lights in the sky, just stars…”
It would probably be really beautiful, too, but it wouldn’t be like anything either of them had seen before.
***
“Might be kinda creepy. Might also be kinda romantic.” Kate wasn’t sure which was more likely. She turned to lean against him on the picnic blanket, settling in to cuddle up against him in the stillness. All they could hear was the gentle babbling of the stream nearby. There were birds chirping in the trees, and flickering butterflies flitting about. It was really calm and relaxing… but Kate could imagine that this much nature and calm would get boring eventually.
“But we can do whatever you wanna do.” She didn’t really care so long as they were together.
***
“I mean, anything’s fine with me. The portal doesn’t close at midnight or anything, does it?” Because he definitely didn’t want to be stuck here overnight with nowhere to go if weird stuff happened. Maybe weird stuff wouldn’t happen, but he had absolutely no proof of that.
“I mean, right now we’re okay, right? Weird stuff doesn’t happen in broad daylight?”
***
“No, I don’t think so.” Kate was led to believe that they had coming and going privileges… and that as soon as the portal closed, they’d be whisked back to Madison Valley, anyway. They weren’t going to be stuck here either way.
“No idea. Your guess is as good as mine.” Kate was relaxing. This was about as close as she got to a vacation, so she wanted to take advantage. “...but if you don’t want to stay, we don’t have to stay. I’m sure Lucky will appreciate me coming home at a reasonable hour,” she smirked softly. “...and you can come home with me, if you want.”
***
“No, we can stay. We should stay. I mean, I’m guessing this is going to be our first chance to actually see Feudal Japan, isn’t it?” It would be stupid to leave just because he was a little nervous and didn’t quite know what was going on. Plus, she obviously wanted to be here and that was reason enough to stay.
“Not that I’m arguing about coming home with you after this. Nope, definitely not arguing about that. But we can stay here as long as we want.”
***
Kate grinned softly. She turned to climb into his lap, her back against his chest, her head on his shoulder. And she took hold of his arms to wrap them around her. She was a little sheepish about sort of forcing a cuddle, but it was fine. Right? Right.
“We can stay.” She turned, her nose against his neck. “And after we’ve spent some time with the stars, we’ll go home to my place for a proper shag.” The word made her break into a playful grin. “How’s that sound?”
***
Stiles wasn’t going to argue with cuddling, no matter what. He was a teenage boy and he was a-ok with girls touching him whenever they wanted to. Well, mostly. And he was definitely okay with Kate doing it.
“Um, yeah, okay. That’s like, totally fine with me.” Sex with Kate was one of his favorite things to do. There were times that it still surprised him that she wanted him at all.
***
Kate grinned softly when he agreed. She closed her eyes and settled in against him. It was quiet and relaxing, and a part of her thought she could just sleep here like this. But they had drinks and food, and Kate didn’t want to let a hungry Stiles down. Just a few more minutes, though.
“Did I tell you that I brought Lucky in for his vaccinations, and finally got to hang out with Scott? I didn’t know he worked at the Veterinary Clinic.” She’d been invited over to the Pack’s house a few times, but things just kept getting in the way. Kate was intensely glad that she’d had a chance to get to know Scott a bit. She really hoped that he liked her.
***
“You did? Did you like him?” This was more important to Stiles than perhaps it should be, but Scott was his best friend, and his opinions mattered. Really, they were way more like brothers than best friends.
“You need to come over to the pack house. Meet Malia. Kira. You know, there’s probably a room for you there, if you want it.”
***
“He’s great.” Kate grinned, leaned in to tap a kiss against Stiles’s neck, then sat up a little to reach for the drinks and the food. They could eat and cuddle at the same time, couldn’t they? “He’s really good with Lucky. I gotta admit, I was… well, I was a little nervous. I know how close you two are.” She really wanted him to like her. Or, at the very least, approve reluctantly.
But then she paused. “...did you just ask me to move in? You didn’t, did you?”
***
“Woah, woah, not like that. I just mean that this house that Scott bought is like, huge, and there are lots of different rooms. It’s like…a pack house, you know? And if you ever wanted to stay there - in your own room - you totally could.”
He knew it was way too soon to even be bringing up living together, so hopefully that assuaged her fears.
***
Well, living in a house full of friends seemed like a much better thing than living in a cold, lonely apartment by herself. “I’ll have to bring it up with Lucky,” Kate said, considering. If things went well between her and Stiles, then living in that house would be wonderful. But if she moved into the pack house and then she and Stiles… broke up? That would be awkward, right?
Not that she was thinking about things with Stiles ending. She was crazy about him.
“Are you absolutely sure Scott wouldn’t mind?”
***
“I mean, I can ask him to make sure, but Scott is all about taking in strays,” he grinned. “And you’re a lot better than some of the strays he’s found.” Like Theo. Stiles would never get over hating that guy, even if he had helped them all get away from the Ghost Riders. Even a stopped clock was right twice a day.
“And you’re a very cute stray,” he grinned, leaning over to kiss her.
***
“You should definitely ask to make sure,” she nodded. “I mean, I’m pretty awesome, but I’d hate to assume things.” Then, with a grin, she leaned in and returned his kiss. Which she let linger, her nose nuzzling against his, her lips against his. Finally, she pulled back and smiled at him.
“Let’s eat some of this food. Then we can decide about the stars.”
***
“I will ask. I promise.” He couldn’t imagine Scott would have anything against it. For most things, Scott was one of the most easy going guys he’d ever met.
“Yes, let’s eat.” Stiles was ready to eat all the food but he was going to let her get a plate first.
***
Kate smiled. “Good.” She’d sort of lived with people she’d dated in the past, but this felt… different. Good different. Madison Valley was a new beginning for her--for all of them, really--and Kate didn’t want to mess things up. She had a really good thing going with Stiles. She wanted to keep it that way.
“Here,” she set out two bowls, and split the food into them, then offered him the larger portion. Kate wasn’t afraid of eating: she wasn’t one of those girls who pecked at food, only ate salads, that sort of thing. But she knew how much Stiles liked to eat, and she had butterflies that made her not quite so hungry. Besides, she was ready to fill up on ale, anyway. She offered him a glass of that, too, then toasted.
“Here’s to… new bedrooms. And to Feudal Japan.”
***
“To new bedrooms, Feudal Japan, and portals that don’t lead to terrible places.” Like the Ghost Rider train station. That had definitely been a terrible place. Thankfully, none of the monsters from home had ended up here, which was definitely a good thing. Even if the place got weird sometimes, it never held a candle on Beacon HIlls.
He took a bite of the food, then another, then another. It was different than what he was used to, but it was food, and that was all that mattered.
***
Kate grinned, clinked her cup against his, then gulped from it. Here, also, was to hoping they wouldn’t get sick off of food and drink from a time before human beings had a firm grasp on the idea of germs. She had plans for later that would be ruined if they both weren’t in tip top shape.