InsaneJournal

Who: Scott McCall and Cora Hale
Where: Going for a ride on Scott’s bike
When: 31st July
What: Riding, talking and bonding
Status: Complete
Warnings: Low

It seemed like he and Cora hung out a lot at home, but it was pretty rare for them to go out and do stuff together. As the newest member of the pack it was good that Scott got a little time to bond with her. She didn’t open up much but when she did it was sassy and fun, but blunt as hell. Maybe that should be ‘blunt as Hale’. It sure seemed like a family trait. Scott headed downstairs and out into the street, where his bike was parked up. He still couldn’t believe it had just appeared from nowhere but he definitely wasn’t going to complain. Not when he had to travel from work and school through the traffic every day. He gave it a quick check over and got out his spare helmet for Cora. He looked up as he heard the door close. “Here, for you,” Scott said as he passed the helmet to Cora. “If the Entity can’t give you gifts, I guess I’ll have to do it,” he told her with a smile as he swung his leg over the engine and patted the seat behind him. “Your butt goes here and your feet go here,” he said tapping the foot-rest. “Where would you like to go?” Scott asked with a broad smile. * After writing her last comment on the network, Cora pocketed her phone and then finally got up and left the apartment. She was still wondering how a simple comment about going for a bike ride turned into not only a bike ride but a shopping trip too. Cora didn’t want anything. Nothing came to mind even after her short conversation with Lydia. She never really ever just bought something to buy it. Anything she owned or bought was because it was needed. That’s it. She headed out of the apartment building and found Scott standing beside his bike. “Oh, you shouldn’t have,” she jokingly said as she grabbed the helmet and put it on. “You don’t have to,” she told him. “I don’t know,” she told him as she climbed onto the back. “This was your idea.” Scott could take them anywhere. She really didn’t care. * The shopping trip had come slightly out of left-field, but Scott wasn’t about to complain. It was an excuse to get to know Cora better and spend a little time with her too. If it involved spoiling her, so much the better. “I totally should have,” Scott replied, “cause you may be able to heal, but you still don’t wanna deal with the pain of a squished skull?” he told her with a grin. “Not that you’re in any danger from me. It’s the other drivers you gotta worry about.” And now he was rambling and he totally blamed Lydia for that. How could she know everything? Always? “Maybe I want to,” he told Cora, feeling a slight blush hit his cheeks, “you got left out so you deserve a treat. I’m down to supply,” and if the words would just stop coming out of his mouth it would be awesome! “We’re going shopping, eventually,” Scott said as he helped Cora settle on the bike. “We can go for a ride first, if you still wanna do that?” He patted his waist and smiled, “just hold tight. Don’t wanna lose you on our first time out,” and he really need to quit sounding like an 80s movie and get on with taking her out! “Alright, let’s go,” he said gunning the engine and pulling off slowly, so Cora could get herself balanced. * “I’m not in the mood to deal with any kind of pain today.” Cora mostly just listened as Scott went on and on. He was rambling. And she could smell why. He was nervous. About what, she had no idea. “Well, I wasn’t the only one. Apparently, somebody else didn’t get a gift waiting for them by the door.” Why the two of them got left out, she had no clue. It made no sense. Then again, they both had expressed the fact that they both didn’t really own much, so maybe that was all it was. “You’re the one driving.” She really didn’t care what they ended up doing. It got them out of the apartment and that was good enough for her. She held on. “No, we wouldn’t want that.” Cora held on tight and found her balance quickly, the perks of being a wolf. After that, there was nothing else for her to do. Scott was now in control of this little adventure. She was just along for the ride. * “Good, cause I wouldn’t want to see you in pain either,” he told her with a smile. That sounded far better in Scott’s head than it did out loud and he was happy to close the visor on his helmet to hide his embarrassment from Cora. “Maybe the Entity just didn’t know what to get you?” Scott suggested, feeling very much in the same boat. He’d even asked Lydia, who was either holding out on him or as clueless about her desires as Scott was. “I may be driving, but I’m not the only one on board,” he pointed out as he took off down the street. He was fairly sure Cora’s were-strength would keep her safe and supported, so long as she held tight and moved with him. Which was actually kinda nicer than he’d hoped for. Scott drove around the city a little until he found a park with picnic tables and a few shops. “This looks like a nice place to stop for a while,” he said as he pulled in. “So, Cora Hale, you’ve ridden a bike for the first time - how does it feel?” Scott asked, miming a microphone as he spoke and then gesturing it to Cora for her input. * Cora didn’t say anything. She shook her head. “Or maybe I just don’t have anything worth giving to me.” That’s what she was sticking to. She didn’t grow up like Scott. She didn’t have stuff sitting in a bedroom that she’s collected throughout the years. She had stuff she needed to survive. As Scott drove, she held on and looked at the passing buildings. She didn’t care where they ended up. The minute Scott was parked; she was sitting up straight once again and taking her helmet off. “It feels like I had a bike between my legs.” She rolled her eyes and then got off of the bike and handed the helmet over to Scott. “So, are we shopping or going to the park?” * “Maybe everything worth anything is right here, right now,” Scott told her with a small smile, incredibly glad he had his helmet on so that she couldn’t see his cheeks burning red at his words. “You have so much already, Cora,” he said softly, knowing that his opinion wouldn’t make the damnedest difference. Still, he couldn’t let it be unsaid. As he’d spent time with her he’d learned more about the girl that tried to stay aloof and said very little and Scott liked what he saw. More and more, to the point where even Lydia called him on it. What she felt in return was a whole different thing and he knew Cora probably wanted nothing he had to offer, other than the pack and a friendship. Should he stop trying, though? Maybe if she rebuffed him enough, he would. When Cora spoke Scott spluttered a choking cough, that led to him hiccuping uncontrollably. Nope, still couldn’t get the idea of of a bike between her legs out of his head! He was trying, too. So hard! “I meant, did you like it?” which sounded so bad in that context! He could barely look her in the eye, in case he started choking again. “We’re doing both,” he said finally getting a grip and told her, “first we shop, then we have lunch in the park. Sound like a plan you can get behind?” Scott asked with a smile, hoping the embarrassed-boy had fled back to his cave and left alpha-wolf in his place. * “Uh huh,” was all Cora said to both things. She didn’t really care. It didn’t bother her one bit. It was Scott who had been making such a big deal about her not getting something like the others. A smirk crossed her lips when Scott got choked up over what she had said. It was quite entertaining. “It was fine. It got us from point a to point b.” She was still smirking especially since he kept looking everywhere but at home. “Sounds good to me,” she told him before taking off towards the shops. * Scott was still blushing a little when he pulled off his helmet and stashed it, hoping the smirk on Cora’s face didn’t stay put for too long else he was going to start being embarrassed all over again. “I guess that’s a vote in favour of transport then,” he said, feeling like the worst kind of tongue-tied jerk right now. Maybe he could turn this around with shopping. It was unlikely but he could try, he thought as he followed Cora towards the shops. “So do you want something particular for dinner?” Scott asked. “We could get deli sandwiches or burgers?” all easy food to eat in the park. He was also on the lookout for something else as they passed the shops. When he spotted it he smiled and pointed towards the jewelry shop. “Detour,” he told her as he led the way inside hoping the treat he’d thought of would suit her. “Come on, I had an idea,” Scott said with a small smile as he opened the door and gestured for her to head inside. After the dumb bike faux pas it was possible he might be able to persuade her he wasn’t a total looser after all. Well, less of a looser, most likely. * “Nope,” Cora replied as she glanced into a window as she walked. She really didn’t care what they ate for dinner. “Either one sounds fine,” she said. It was pretty obvious that she really didn’t care since she wasn’t that picky. Cora kept walking, only stopping when Scott mentioned a detour. Now where was he making her go? She turned and went into the shop that Scott seemed to want to go into. “And what is this idea of yours?” she asked once she saw that they were now in a jewelry shop. * “Surely you have a preference?” Scott said with a frown, “or do you just want neither and would rather get something you’re craving?” he asked, wanting to make sure Cora got something she liked to eat. He was happy to go with most things, though sandwiches sounded good about now, but if Cora didn’t want to go for them he could definitely be persuaded to get something else. “You’ll have to see,” he said as he took led her inside and towards one of the displays. “Here,” Scott said as he pointed towards the charm bracelet he’d thought perfect for he. “You didn’t get a gift and you should have one,” he told Cora softly. “You said you don’t have anything back home that meant anything to you, so I thought you could start some memories of your own here.” Scott pointed to one of the tiny silver charms, “maybe a wolf to start off your collection?” he said with a smile. * Cora glanced over at Scott. He really was going to make her choose what they ate. “We can get burgers.” That was good enough as anything and she picked, so now he can stop bugging her about food. “You’re not going to do something sappy, are you?” She asked as she was led towards one of the displays. She glanced down to see different kinds of bracelets displayed in the glass case. She glanced over at Scott and then down at the bracelet. “You really hate it that I didn’t get anything, huh?” Why else would he be making such a big deal out of it? She wasn’t used to anyone acting like this towards her either. It was both weird and kind of nice. Not that she’d admit it to Scott. * “Burgers it is,” he said with a nod. “There’s a place on the corner we can go to after we finish up here.” Scott could tell Cora was only committing on the food for his sake and it was kinda sweet that she bothered, rather than just telling him to pick something and move on. Which she’d done before a time or two. “I don’t know…” Scott answered with a frown towards Cora. “...is this sappy?” cause he was genuinely wanting to do something nice for her. She deserved it. He gave a shrug and asked the guy behind the counter to get the bracelet out of the case and Scott put it on her wrist. Even without the charms it was pretty. “See, it suits you,” he told her with a smile. Did it bother him? Yeah, actually it did. “It doesn’t bother me that you didn’t get a random thing,” Scott answered looking up at Cora, “it’s that you don’t have anything special you want. I think you should have something that matters to you here. Even if it is just a thing.” Urgh, he was doing this badly and he didn’t know how to do it better. “Maybe I just want you to have something from me?” Nope, that wasn’t it either. “Do you like it?” Cause he was seriously fucking this moment up and if he could salvage anything he would! * “Okay,” Cora said. Honestly, she picked what they were going to eat. She was pretty much done with the subject. She shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe a little. Or maybe it’s your puppy dog eyes that are making this sappy.” She went back to looking at the jewelry in the case. She held out her wrist when she needed to and then looked at the bracelet more closely once it was on her. Okay, so it wasn’t so bad. “You really don’t have to buy this for me.” Cora looked away from the bracelet and now her eyes were on Scott. “I wasn’t like you. I didn’t get to have all of these things for no real reason.” That had all stopped when she was a kid and her family was murdered. After that, everything she owned was to help her survive this crappy world. “Uh huh,” was all she said about Scott wanting her to have something from him. She looked the bracelet over again and said, “I like it.” * “I have puppy eyes?” he asked with a frown that was part-embarrassed and part curious and all interested to hear what Cora had to say. He was supposed to be a rough, tough werewolf Alpha, but instead it seemed like Scott was more like a hormonal teenager that had never seen a girl before. “I know I don’t have to,” he said with a smile up at her, “I want to.” Scott gave a nod of understanding, “I know you didn’t grow up the same way I did. I mean me and Stiles didn’t exactly have it so great, us both only having one parent, but the stuff we did get meant more to us,” which was why he wanted to get this gift for Cora now. It was something she didn’t need or expect and those were the things that meant the most. Scott smiled when she finally gave her verdict and gave a small sigh of relief. “Thank goodness for that,” he said with a nervous laugh, “cause it’s yours already.” When Scott had initially seen the bracelet he’d mentioned it to Stiles and when he decided the idea didn’t suck, he’d headed straight back to the store and paid for it. “The only thing you have to decide is what you put on it,” he told her, “but this charm’s from me,” he said pointing to the wolf in the jewelry box. “Welcome to the pack,” Scott told her with a soft smile. * “Yeah,” she said with a nod of her head, “you do.” She wondered why he seemed surprised to hear that. She was sure he had been told it before. There was also no point in saying that he didn’t need to do this. So, she said nothing else about it. “Well, thank you.” Was there anything else to say? No, not really. “Hm, what would you have done if I said that I didn’t like it?” she asked, her eyes now on Scott instead of the bracelet. “I’m sure I’ll figure out what else to put on it.” She grabbed the charm out of the box and placed it onto the bracelet. “Thanks,” she said again. “Now can we get out of here? I’m getting pretty hungry now.” * “Here was me thinking I had awesome Alpha-eyes and now I find out they’re just puppy-eyes,” he said with a teasing smile Cora’s way. It was Scott’s way of trying to get out of the awkward corner his question had backed him into. Bluff it out and smile and hope this cool girl didn’t think he was being a total sap. Scott gave a soft smile and nodded, “you’re incredibly welcome,” he told Cora as he took hand and held it up, so he could admire the way it looked on her. As always her question had him on the back foot and he met her yes with a frown. “I guess I just hoped you’d like it and if you didn’t I hoped you’d lie,” Scott answered with a small shrug as he gave her hand a gentle squeeze and let go. “I’ll help,” he assured her as he watched her slip the wolf onto the bracelet. Scott gave a satisfied nod and grinned, “burger time it is!” he said as he thanked the guy behind the counter for his help and led the way out of the jewelry shop. “So what do you fancy on your burger?” he asked Cora, happy to change the conversation back to something that wasn’t a grand gesture. His stomach rumbled at the thought of food. “I hadn’t realised how hungry I was,” Scott said, figuring he’d been so nervous he hadn’t noticed. * Finally, Cora walked out of the store with Scott. It was starting to get too weird and mushy and she was not about any of that. “Depends what I’m feeling once I’m in there.” She glanced at him as they walked towards the burger place. “Probably because you were too busy on the whole bracelet thing back there.” They didn’t have far to walk, so it wasn’t long before she was opening the door and heading inside. She was already staring up at the menu the moment she was inside. “So many different choices…” * Yep, there was that awkward again, Scott thought as the two of them headed towards the burger place. “Hey, I guess I was a little distracted back there,” he told Cora with a shrug, “but now my belly is giving me signals I just can’t ignore.” He watched as Cora looked up at the menus, pretty sure he knew what he wanted already. Stiles would call him predictable, but why try something new when there was already something awesome you liked on offer? “Double quarter-pounder with cheese, bacon and jalapenos,” Scott told the server with a broad grin. “With fries, onion rings and a coke,” he finished by grabbing pots of ketchup before looking over at Cora. “Your turn,” he told her with a wiggle of his eyebrows. “Warning, if you choose something good we may have to share.” When they had their order he headed out to the park, picking fries from the bag as he went. Scott had wanted to restrain from eating until they got there but it smelled far too good. Besides, that’s what fries were for. “So, random question,” he said looking Cora’s way as he sat down at one of the picnic tables. “If I were to ask you out on a date, what would you say?” Scott asked. “Would it be too weird because we’re living together?” or maybe she just didn’t see him in that way. Yep, he was screwing this up on a massive scale, but that was what he was best at. * Cora was still looking over the menu while Scott went ahead and ordered what he wanted. When he was done, she knew what she wanted. “I’ll take the jalapeno cheeseburger, onion rings, and a strawberry shake. Thanks.” She had one bag and her shake in her hands as they walked. Setting them both down on the table once they reached the park and picked a bench. “Okay…” Cora sat down and took a sip of her drink as she waited for Scott to ask this random question of his. “Umm,” yeah, she really didn’t know how to answer that. “It would be weird because it’s weird.” It made her wonder if Scott always liked her or if this was something that just started to happen. Either way, he wasn’t quite sure how to react to it. So, she grabbed an onion ring and shoved it into her mouth. Less talking can happen when there’s food in her mouth. * “Good choice,” he told her with a nod, “copy my burger and avoid having to share,” Scott said with a smirk Cora’s way. He was teasing, obviously, but it was kinda cool they ordered the same thing. Maybe it was a sign. Yep, that’s what it was, he decided, cause otherwise he might have to come up with some other inference that Cora might, in some small way, reciprocate. He chomped on his fries as she spoke and felt his spirits sink at Cora’s response. “Why would it be weird?” Scott asked, “I mean, if you’re not interested, it’s all cool. You don’t have to be, but I do kinda like you,” and he had for a while now. Living with her had given him a curious insight into Cora’s world and he liked what he saw. “Good burger, huh?” he said taking a big bite, just to keep his foot from diving into his big mouth even more! * “Why do you like me? You hardly know me.” Sure they’ve been living in the same apartment for like a month now, but it wasn’t like they had a bunch of sit-downs and shared things about one another. Cora didn’t really do the sharing thing. So, she really didn’t get why Scott would like her. This was going to turn really awkward, she could already tell. “Uh huh,” was all she said before taking another bite of her food. * Well that definitely wasn’t what Scott had expected and almost choked on his burger as he tried to swallow both the meat and the comment at the same time. He felt his cheeks burning red as he gave a strangled cough and dislodged his near-death-morsal and finally recovered his composure. Why did he like her? Seriously? Why did anyone like anyone? “You know it would be easier if you’d just stripped me naked and forced me to run around the park right now, right?” Scott asked Cora, wondering if she knew just how much she’d put him on the spot. Oh god, here goes, he shut his eyes so that he didn’t have to look at her as he spoke. “You’re smart and funny,” Scott started with a deep breath, “and you’re direct,” right now maybe a little too direct! “I like your honesty and your ability to accept everything we’re dealing with without freaking out.” He cranked open his eyes so that he could look over at Cora, “you’re also pretty damn hot, but that’s not new,” he said with a sigh. “So does it bother you that I like you?” Scott asked, knowing his puppy-eyes were definitely back with a vengeance. * Cora rolled her eyes when Scot started to turn red. Not only could she see that she had gotten to him again, but it was coming off of him in waves. She wondered if he was always going to be like this whenever they were around one another. She hoped not. She didn’t say anything at first. She just stared at Scott for a moment before a smirk slowly crossed her lips. “Get naked and start running, puppy wolf.” She listened as he practically spilled his guts to her. She didn't interrupt. She let him say everything that he needed to say before speaking again. “No, it doesn’t bother me that you like me. You acting weird around me might start to bother me, though.” * “You don’t get the whole embarrassment-factor at all, do you?” Scott said with a smile and a shake of his head. “It’s actually pretty refreshing but I can’t help it when you put me on the spot like that,” he said giving Cora a quick shrug of his shoulders. “I don’t wanna be acting different around you because what I like best is how we’ve gotten to know each other,” Scott told her. “Only, I don’t know if you feel the same about me, so I didn’t want to assume or make a move,” he said taking another bite of his burger. “Also,” Scott said as he looked at her and laughed, “puppy-wolf? I’m no puppy, which you’d know if I stripped naked!” He gave her a wiggle of his eyebrows, “which is so not happening, by the way. Not in a million years!” * Cora shook her head before taking a bite of her onion ring. “I guess you better get used to being put on the spot then.” She wasn’t going to sugar coat anything and she was pretty much going to always be direct. Scott was just going to have to learn how to deal with it. “I don’t hate you. But do I have feelings? No. I still don’t really know you.” She was still smirking. “So, go ahead, strip naked and let me see,” she half-joked. “Really? Which part? The running around the park naked or just the whole naked thing altogether?” * “Starting to get a feel for that,” Scott answered with a deep sigh of understanding. Cora was always going to throw him curve-balls and that was, partly, what he liked about her to start with. She was different. “Well I’m glad you don’t hate me, at least,” he said feeling a total idiot for even starting this conversation. “Still didn’t answer the original question, though. People go on dates to get to know one another, so would you want to go out with me sometime?” He wasn’t a mind reader and though Cora didn’t seem to be that keen, she wasn’t running away screaming either. “I see how this is,” Scott said with a laugh, “you’ll claim not to know me at all, but still wanna get me naked?” He was mostly teasing her right back, but he’d shaken his head in the negative almost as soon as Cora suggested he show her. “You’ll just have use your imagination, for now, anyway,” he said with a grin. “Never say never, right?” * “Will you stop being weird if I said yes?” Cora finally asked. She really didn’t understand why they needed to go on a date to learn more about each other. They weren’t on a date now and they were talking and stuff. Why did a date need to happen? “I don’t need to know somebody to get them naked,” she pointed out. “I doubt I’ll have to use my imagination for long.” They shared a space together. She was pretty sure she was bound to catch him naked at some point. She finished her food and tossed the wrappers back into the bag they came in. “So, what’s next?” * “...” Scott looked at her open-mouthed and tried to answer once more. “Possibly?” he volunteered, “though I don’t want to make you do anything you don’t wanna do, obviously,” he wanted to make totally sure Cora understood there were no strings here and definitely didn’t want to force her into anything. And now he was looking at her with his jaw drooping, almost entirely unable to come up with a response to that statement. “Okay then. I guess I like to know people before I get them naked. At least if it’s naked and interesting,” he managed to reply, feeling a little out of his depth right now. Scott looked at her with a quizzical frown, “what do you mean you won’t need your imagination for long?” and was he totally going to regret asking that? Probably! “Well, we could head home, if you’re done? Unless there’s something else you’d rather do?” Scot replied, pretty much out of ideas, though the whole conversation suggested he might need a little alone-time when he got back home! * “I’ll go,” Cora finally answered. “I never do anything that I don’t want to do.” The look on Scott’s face just kept making Cora smile. Boys were idiots. “Oh, I could make it very interesting,” she told him, wondering if he’d just end up on the floor now after that statement. “We share an apartment. What do you think I mean?” Home sounded good to her. She stood up and grabbed her trash. “Let’s go home then.” * “What?” Scott looked at her like she’d maybe suggested rainbows were flying out of his butt or something. “Okay, then I’ll find somewhere cool for us to hang out,” he said with a smile, wondering how the hell he’d managed to get a date with her after the shit-storm that conversation had been. “Good. I’d never want you doing anything you didn’t want to,” he told Cora with a nod. That smile made him feel like he was about five again and about as out of his depth as he’d ever been in his life. “Yeah…” Scott said with a slight cough, “...you don’t say!” Cora would likely make his life very interesting indeed, now that he’d shown his weakness. “Just because we share an apartment doesn’t mean we’re going to see one another naked,” Scott said, feeling a little squeak in his voice, “because locks.” Good choice. This conversation was definitely getting out of hand and Cora was enjoying making him squirm a little too much. “Here, I’ll get rid of that,” Scott said taking her back of trash and his too and jogging over to the bin before heading back, wondering what tortures she’d come up with next. * “What? Are you surprised that I agreed to go?” Cora asked, a little confused. “Good luck with that.” She smiled. She really hoped she didn’t make a mistake in agreeing to go on this date with him. “You don’t need to worry about that.” If Cora didn’t want to do it, she would have turned him down. “Accidents happen,” she pointed out. Why was he being so weird about nudity? She handed over her trash and then started to walk away from the bench and back towards the bike. Scott would be able to catch up. She wasn’t walking that fast. * “After the way you responded to the idea, I actually am,” Scott admitted with a small shrug, “though I’m glad you did,” he quickly added. He didn’t want Cora thinking he was trying to get out of it already. He just couldn’t believe she’d agreed after all the questions she’d asked him. “I believe you, “ Scott said under his breath as he took off for the bins, suspecting it would take more than a True-Alpha to order her to do anything against her will. “Locks,” Scott said again as he got onto his bike and pulled on his helmet. “Never underestimate the awesomeness of locks,” he told Cora with a grin. There would be no accidents. Ever. None. With that he pulled away from the park and pointed the bike back towards the apartment block, wondering what the hell he’d gotten himself into. More than he could handle, was probably the right answer.