WHO: Malia Tate and Bobby Drake WHAT: Malia's rearrival WHEN: This evening WHERE: The streets WARNINGS: Low STATUS: Closed/Completed Gdoc
It wasn’t easy, getting used to walking on two feet. Or wearing clothes. Or following the thousand different little unspoken human behaviors that people expected her to follow but she didn’t...because she knew nothing about them.
It also wasn’t easy to come to terms with the fact that she had killed her sister and her mother. And forced to be human again, she was having to face that guilt and that pain every moment of every day. Oh, just with the added bonus of not having anyone believe her.
In fact, her dad had told her that they’d be going to Eichen House in the morning, and that she would be staying there for a few days to ‘get some help.’ So her dad thought she was nuts. Great. That felt good.
She snuggled down in her bed, wishing - far from the first time - that she could just be a coyote again. Oh, and also visualizing ripping out Scott and Stiles’ throats since they’d forced this human thing on her entirely against her will.
Then, suddenly, she wasn’t in her bed. In fact, she wasn’t even inside. She was outside, in a place she’d never seen before, surrounded by strange and unknown smells.
Her eyes glowed blue as she glanced around her, her claws extending as a growl started deep in her throat.
****
Bobby had been out, walking, thinking of the odd life he had been living, thinking of this very new place. He had both had both joys and sorrows here. From the coming of people he knew, his friends, to the loss of friends, such as Malia, who had been intimate, though not romantic, for awhile, with him.
He swallowed as he walked, thinking on her, and smiled into the night. Damn, but he missed her. She spoke calmly, candidly, and without reservation. And he missed that.
Walking along, he suddenly heard something, and turned.
And there she was.
He gaped, and stared, then swallowed. “Malia? You’re back!”
***
Malia was glad that it was a warm night, because she was only wearing a pair of panties and a shirt. She hated wearing clothes, but shs’d been so cold since changing back that she couldn’t get away with being naked all the time like she wanted to be.
Then she turned her head at the sound of her name, glowing blue eyes locking on someone she’d never seen before in her life.
“Who are you? Where am I?”
***
Bobby blinked, ignoring her near-nudity as much as possible in his shock at her reappearance. “I’m Bobby Drake, and you’re in Madison Valley, Indiana. You, like many of us, have been brought to this place by powers unknown. We’re caught up in a spell, of kinds.”
He paused, then questioned. Her. “You are Malia, right, who knows Scott McCall, Kira, and Stiles?”
***
She cocked her head in a very canine manner, then shrugged. “I know them,” she said. “I hate them. But I know them.”
She looked him over slowly, not the least bit shy about it. He was pretty hot, no doubt.
“How do I know you? And who do I have to kill to get home?”
***
He noticed her look and remembered it, oh yes.
“They are here also. And sadly, there is no one you could kill that would send you home. The powers that be, those who brought us here, never identify themselves. They have shown no care if we kill or hurt each other, or help each other. Most, here, live in peace.”
He shook his head and hesitated. “There was a version of you here before. People come here, sometimes, from different places in time, and different versions of their timeline. But it doesn’t matter that another version was here. All that matters is that you are.”
***
She looked at him a long while, trying to understand what he was saying. Trying to understand how they were stuck here in this place with no way out. Trying to understand how there could be another version of her anywhere. She didn’t like that thought. She was the only Malia and she didn’t want any others.
“Were we friends?” She asked, staring at him unblinkingly in the way that showed how far from human she really was.
***
“We were. Not for a long time, but yes. I liked your way of doing things, and… I think you appreciated I neither talked too much, nor made life complicated, but I’m not sure.” He smiled wryly at her.
He considered leaving the next part out, but he had once promised her he would never lie, and to him, omission was just another lie. “We had sex when you wanted it, because sex with a friend was not complicated.”
***
She took the news calmly and looked at him curiously. “You’re hot,” she said simply. “I bet I wanted it a lot.” She paused. “But I’ve never actually had sex before. I’ve never even kissed anyone. I’ve only been human for like...a week.”
She wasn’t the least bit uncomfortable talking about this and would never understand why she should be.
“Were you my first?”
***
“You are too.” He blushed some. “We both liked it, fairly often.” he blinked at her words, mouth falling open some. “OH… this is weird. If I understand it right, this version of you, so to speak is from a time before the one of you who was here before.”
He shook his head at her words. “No. Not at all. You had a partner you were with for at least a year, maybe longer. His name was… well, since you don’t like him, you may not believe this,but… you were with Stiles. As far as i know, and I don’t for sure, he was your first.”
He shook his head. They had not talked about all of her past. They’d never quite gotten that far. He had done his best to be a low pressure friend with benefits for her.
***
“Wait what?” She said, scowling. “I was with Stiles? The annoying little human who’s best friends with the guy who forced me to change back?” She growled low and angrily. “If I saw either of them, I’d punch them right in the face for doing this to me.”
She hadn’t wanted to switch back at all. She’d liked being a coyote. It was safe and she didn't have to face the things that she hadn’t wanted to face.
***
Bobby snorted. He didn’t know Stiles, but after being Malia’s friend, had not been entirely sure he liked the guy. Her words for him was hilarious. But he sobered as he saw her real anger and he moved a little closer. “I’m sorry they did that. They thought they were helping you and your dad, but they may not have taken the time to see things from your side.”
He had no idea how it had happened, but he knew what it was like to be yanked away from your life to something without permission. It sucked.
“I think, if they knew how you feel, they would be sorry? I think.” Maybe. Again, he really didn’t know either of them.
“But you don’t have to see or talk to them. If you are around long enough, they might come say hi, since they knew the last you. But you choose who you want to be around. No one else.”
***
Malia really couldn’t conceive of how it was possible that she and Stiles could be together. He was human and weak and skinny and if she was going to get together with either of them it would have to be Scott because he was the Alpha and therefore the best and the strongest. Stiles. Ugh.
“I mean...I guess my dad’s glad to have me back,” she shrugged. “Even though he’s sending me to Eichen House because he thinks I’m crazy.”
She looked around her and crossed her arms over her chest.
“Can I punch them? If they come see me, I mean.”
***
Bobby blinked. “Eichen is a… treatment house?” Why would a father do that? Damn it. “Did he not know the truth about you?”
Then he blinked again and laughed. “It’s probably better if you don’t. I mean, who wants the hassle and there might be blood spatter. Bets to probably stick with a glare, and maybe a kick.”
***
“It’s a nut house,” she said bluntly. “Where all the crazies go.”
She shook her head.
“No, he doesn’t know. I don’t know why. Maybe I got bit as a little kid or something and they didn’t believe in werewolves or something, I don’t know. Or maybe my mom knew and my dad didn’t. Anyway, I told him that I’d been a coyote for the past eight years and the next thing I know i’m going straight to Eichen.”
She cocked her head again.
“I don’t care if there’s blood. I just want them to hurt.”
***
“Oh! And that sucks. “ He shook his head. No family should do that to another.
“I understand, but I don’t think it’s a good idea. Even if they did you wrong, doing them wrong in turn doesn’t even the scales.”
He paused. Then nodded. “That said, if you want to do it, do it. I’m not going to tell you not to, just that I don’t think its a good idea.”
***
“Why not?” Malia didn’t understand that. If someone hurt you or wronged you, you turned around and destroyed them. Killed them. Wiped them out. Then they couldn’t hurt you again. If you let them live they might wrong you again.
Humans had stupid rules sometimes.
“You don’t smell quite human.”
***
"Because people get weird about one person hurting another. And they get angry, and it starts a mess you probably don't want to get into. " He sighed. "Human society really makes no sense."
Her words made him nod. "I'm not. I'm what's called a mutant, a subrace of humanity. I possess a genetic quirk that lets me do something most humans can't, control moisture and emperature, like so..." And he gestured, and from the ground a fountain of ice sprang up, pure white, and filled with cool water.
"Thirsty?" It would smell and taste like the purest water she had ever tasted or smelled if she chose to check it.
***
Malia listened closely to his explanation and then watched curiously as he made the water and ice come from the ground. She knelt beside it, sniffing it a little, then lapping up a bit with her tongue.
Then she looked up at him with a little smile.
“I wish you’d been in the forest with me when I had nothing to drink from but mud puddles.”
***
“Me too. I can make ice caves, when there are no caves to hide in, and water, or make ice slides, to get across river. It’s like your strength, and healing, and your senses. Like hopw those are part of you? This is part of me.”
Bobby smiled to her as he spoke.
***
“Are you cold all the time?” It made sense, since he had all had ice inside of him. She didn't like being cold herself and she felt sorry for him if he was.
“That’s cool, though. When you’re on your own in the wild clean water’s the hardest thing to find. You’d never have to worry about that.”
***
“No, in fact, cold doesn’t bother me at all. I just kind of shrug it off.” He grinned at her. “BUt that is a good question, really. Almost no one ever asks it.” He had wondered if anyone ever would.
“Yeah. I’m pretty self sufficient, most of the time, even when I miss people if I am away too long.” He liked people, despite himself.
***
“I don’t really miss people,” she said. “I liked being alone.” Being forced to socialize the past few days had. Even rather miserable and painful to her. She’d escaped to her room whenever she’d had the chance.
She closed the distance between them and touched him, expecting him to feel as cold as ice. He didn’t, even if he wasn't as warm as she was.
“You’re not cold at all.”
***
“Nothing wrong with that. Here at least you can live alone, I think.” He hadn’t had any problem with it. “Maybe you can set up your own thing here, live as you want to live.”
He would do his best to help.
Her hand on him made him shiver and grin. “Nope. I could be ice cold if I wanted to, but why? I enjoy myself as I am.” He ignored what her closeness was making his body do, that and the many memories of what he and the other her had done.
“Are you hungry? We could go get you some food if you like?”
***
Because of her werecoyote metabolism, Malia was almost always hungry, and she bounced on her toes a little.
“I’m starving,” she said. “Is there a place here we can get deer? I love deer. Or rabbits. Yum.”
***
“There is one store that sells them, or we can go catch them ourselves. I am not nearly the hunter you are, though, or, well the hunter other you was. But there is a place we can buy them, yes.”
He nodded. “I can take you there?”
***
She grinned, and nodded emphatically. She liked him. He seemed nice and was going to show her where she could get deer. It didn’t get much better than that.
“I don't have any money, though.”
Stupid humans and their money. It was going to ruin her meal now, wasn’t it?
***
“The town welcoming committee hasn’t found you yet?” Weird, Bobby thought, looking around.
“They are usually pretty fast on these things. The townspeople, in order to help us refugees get settled, have supplied housing, and money, and a communication phone, a smartphone, for us each to use. Or they should, as soon as they get here. In the meantime, I can buy this meal. Come on.”
He waved a hand toward the rest of town.
***
She looked at him warily for a moment, because people didn’t usually give things away for free. She was very used to a dog eats dog world. Literally.
But then she shrugged. He seemed like a nice guy and she was pretty sure she could take him if something went wrong.
“Okay. But I’m paying next time.”
***
“Of course. Wouldn’t have it any other way.” Friends bought each other food. It was what you did, you know? At least he felt so.
Walking down the street, he could finally see the welcoming committee approaching. “That’s them.” They were, as ever, somewhat nervous, though one of them seemed almost bouncy and and definitely friendly.
He was almost afraid of how this would go down, frankly.
***
It wasn’t exactly pretty, but there was no bloodshed, which was the best you could hope for sometimes with Malia. And she was quite pleased to have some money of her own and a phone to talk to people with.
“I can pay now,” she said proudly.
***
Bobby had kept from dying laughing at it only by sheer strength of will. But he was grinning as he nodded to her words. “Yes you can. Come on, we’ll both go eat and share the cost, and we can talk more if you like, too. I can tell you what I know of this place.”
He nodded, again, feeling rather bouncy as he smiled at her.