Stiles (hyperactivespaz) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2014-08-28 12:24:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, cora hale, lydia martin, stiles stilinski |
Who: Stiles Stilinski, Cora Hale, & Lydia Martin
When: Aug 22nd
Where: Hale-Martin apartment
What: Meeting the roommate aka Stiles’ Alternate Universe Crush!
Rating: Gen
Status: Complete
So, this was the third Friday night in a row that Stiles had gone over to Cora’s to watch a movie. He wasn’t sure if this arranged movie-watching constituted a date or if they were dating, but the fact that he didn’t know it wasn’t and they weren’t was enough to give him anxiety. He was, in fact, so preoccupied with the “were they/weren’t they” question that he forgot who Cora’s roommate was until he knocked on the apartment door and a familiar strawberry blonde he’d never met answered it.
The one, and only Lydia Martin.
The girl Other!Stiles had been obsessed with for half his life.
Other!Stiles had spent hours, probably days, cumulativey speaking, admiring every aspect of Lydia Martin’s existence and painstakingly creating a 5-year plan for obtaining her. And that’s what Other!Stiles saw her as--something to be won; a prize, that would prove to everyone that he wasn’t the freaky weirdo kid that everyone saw him as.
He wasn’t sure it counted as secondhand embarrassment if he was embarrassed on his Other!self’s behalf. But he still found it absolutely mortifying. Which was why when face-to-face with her for the first time in this life, his jaw dropped and he stared, his face turning bright red.
“Y--you--” he sputtered.
Unlike the last few times Cora had her not-quite-a-boyfriend over, Lydia didn’t have a date of her own to go on and not for lack of trying, because let’s be honest, that’s not hard. Today, Lydia wanted a little time to herself, but she also wanted to get a good look at this Stiles in person finally. The only parts of him she had seen in any clarity, hilariously, were the parts she probably wasn’t meant to see, but how could she not have seen them, considering Cora’s reaction to the sext.
Even on the days where she wasn’t out to impress anyone (outwardly), Lydia always dressed to impress. With very few exceptions, Lydia didn’t like looking not put together. With that in mind, a lot of consideration was put into how she would look in the off chance she beat Cora to the door today. She wanted to look nice, but not homewrecker nice since she had no interest in taking probably the first guy Cora had ever given the Hook test to who actually passed.
The knock at the door got Lydia’s attention and she set her book down on the coffee table, racing over to it. Pulling open the door, she didn’t know what to expect out of him and the awkward stutter being the first thing to come out of his mouth had her forcing back a laugh. It was just a little rude to laugh at someone standing on your doorstep, wasn’t it?
“Did you forget my name?” Lydia put on a dramatic pout as she looked at Stiles. In the end, she couldn’t resist teasing him a little. Stepping back, she made space for him to walk in. “Are you just going to stand there or do you want to come in?”
“Definitely remember you,” Stiles muttered, and eased past her into the apartment, looking around carefully for Cora. Who didn’t appear to be there. Awesome.
“...where’s Cora?” he asked, suspiciously.
Lydia was glad she was facing the door when Stiles asked where Cora was because she had a devious little smile on her face. Closing the door and settling her expression into something more shocked, she replied with, “You just missed her. She had to go out to get some things for the apartment.” Of course, he didn’t have to know that was something Lydia had more or less arranged so that she could get a better idea of who late night sexter was. “She should be back in a few minutes.”
Moving towards the living room, Lydia looked over her shoulder at Stiles. “Don’t just stand in the hallway. Come sit.” She sat down on the couch and waited for Stiles to at least come into the room before speaking again.
“So. How did you meet Cora?” She said, her little devious smile on her face again.
Stiles was in the room but keeping as far as he could away from Lydia. He stood stiffly, awkwardly, back against the wall, literally. In another life, that smile would have made him shiver and been worth at least a week of jerking-off material. He couldn’t even enjoy it, because he was seeing it through his 16 year-old self’s eyes.
“Uh...the same way I met you?” he answered, awkwardly. “She made a post on Valar. I commented.”
There was no missing the way that Stiles seemed to adamantly refuse to even come anywhere near her. It made no sense to her, unless he really was that embarrassed about the text messages he had sent that she had seen. Even if that was the case, Lydia doubted bringing that up again would do either of them any good. Considering he was backed up against the living room wall, practically cowering, she figured saying anything related to that would cause him to bolt out of the apartment and then Cora would be mad.
“Well it looks like you really hit it off,” she commented, off-handed. “I mean, you’ve been here more times than anyone else besides family. That’s rare.” Lydia figured even hinting that Cora really liked this kid was likely to get her a stern look from her friend, but Lydia had a feeling these two were going to need the nudge. “And you must like being here.”
At the same time, Lydia honestly had no idea why he was acting so strange around her. She knew she was pretty and that tended to be intimidating to people, but this seemed like more than that. “Are you okay?” It seemed a nicer way to ask then to just question him about why he was so nervous. Lydia didn’t want to be mean.
The question startled Stiles out of his staring. “...I’m fine,” he said, quickly. Too quickly. “And uh...thanks. I mean...yeah. Cora’s great. It’s...nice to hang out with someone who likes movies.”
That was vague enough, right?
“But I’m more interested in you,” he barrelled on, and then stopped, mentally backing up his words and then cringing. “...not--Not like that,” he said, hastily, embarrassed. “I meant you here. Living here. Roommate’s with Cora. H-how does that work, exactly?”
“Are you?” At this point, Lydia was afraid he was having a panic attack or something. “Are you sure you don’t want to sit down?” With the way he jumped from that to talking about Cora, she wasn’t sure exactly what was going on and honestly, she felt a little bad for him. “I’m sure it’s more than that,” she replied, taking his move to a new subject in the attempt to keep him from thinking about whatever was making him so nervous.
“Oh?” Lydia’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. That was something of a loaded statement and Lydia had to wonder if they had known each other before or if he knew her and she had been unaware of him. Before she met and befriended Cora, she hadn’t been the nicest girl. Lydia just hoped he hadn’t been someone from back then that she might have been rude to because she didn’t care. “Oh.” Even with his correction, Lydia almost felt like there was more to that, but she couldn’t place why. “We’ve known each other for a long time. It’s not that hard to live with someone who’s basically a sister to you.”
Stiles realized he’d been talking over her, and stopped, exhaled, and relaxed a little.
“That’s cool,” he said, in response to her last statement. “I don’t have any siblings, so. The whole...big family thing like the Hales that’s….cool. It’s nice to see so many relatives. I’m assuming you know all of them? Like uh...Derek? And Laura? And uh...Peter?” Because even though he very much did not want to meet the psychopathic murdering uncle, Stiles was intensely curious about him.
“Well, I don’t either. Cora’s the closest thing I’ve had to one. Considering how well my parents got along, I’m surprised that I was even born.” Lydia rolled her eyes, though her parents’ divorce was still a sore subject for her. Only Cora really knew how much it bothered her. After that, Lydia spent a lot of time with the Hales, wanting something of a real family, even if they weren’t all that typical. Not that she didn’t love her mother.
“Yeah, they’re basically siblings too at this point, though Laura’s not around as much.” She was closest to Cora, but having that older brother and older sister had always been nice for her. “And Talia and Peter were always nice too.” She had seen a lot of the two of them too over the years. “I’m sure you’ll meet them if you stick around. They’re a close family.”
“That’s nice,” Stiles said softly, his expression inexplicably sad as he regarded his feet. “It’s nice that they’re all close.” That they’re all alive, he didn’t say.
He lifted his gaze to study Lydia’s face--older than the face he knew from his Dreams, but no less beautiful. And if he knew Lydia, she was no less smart than she was in the other universe. “So is this the ritual grilling of the potential boyfriend?” he asked, shrewdly. “Because I gotta tell you--I’m not even sure we’re dating, or if she even wants to date. It feels a little more like I’m being adopted.”
“Yeah,” she replied with a small smile. She looked over at Stiles, wondering what had made him so sad saying that. Maybe he had a screwed up home life like she did. Lydia would have been upset if she hadn’t been welcomed by the Hales like she had. For someone who always tried so hard to make herself seem perfect, there was a lot to her that no one ever really got to see, even Cora.
Lydia smiled wider when Stiles seemed to be catching on. “Oh, you know it is. And trust me. I’m preliminary level. If you get past me, you graduate to the rest of the Hales and honestly? The challenge is getting past Peter,” she explained with a laugh. Lydia felt bad for Peter sometimes. He had always been a nice person, had always been present in Cora’s life and he would have made a great parent if the world had let him be. “Okay, here’s the thing.” Lydia sat up a little straighter, like she was preparing to teach a lesson, which, truthfully, she was. This was a lesson in Cora Hale. “I don’t think Cora really knows, but I can tell. So I’m the gatekeeper and the fairy god mother, here to work my magic.”
Stiles couldn’t hide the flinch when Lydia mentioned getting past Peter, but whatever. He’d deal with that another time. The corner of his mouth curled up slightly as she declared herself a fairy godmother (whose? his? or Cora’s?) and he rubbed the back of his neck, self-consciously. “What does that mean, you can tell? Tell what, exactly?”
“Tell that there’s something between you two and you’re both idiots,” Lydia commented as if it was obvious--which is was. She rolled her eyes at Stiles, though it was also for Cora, only she wasn’t here to see it. “I guess I’m really going to have to do all the work, aren’t I?”
Not that Lydia really minded, because if Stiles really was someone good for Cora, she figured her friend deserved something like that. And she would have gotten involved one way or another anyway because if Stiles wasn’t right? She would be first in line to give him hell for doing anything to her.
Lydia calling him an idiot. Some things never changed. Although Other!Lydia had never shown any interest in his love life whatsoever. Stiles huffed a laugh and eyed her.
“Look--I know that you know absolutely everything about hooking up with guys--and probably girls--and I mean no offense when I say this. Your offer is um. Sweet, I guess. But...I’m not interested in manipulating Cora into being in a relationship with me. Either it happens because we want it to happen, or it’s not gonna happen at all.”
Cora had been on her way back to the apartment when Lydia had sent her a text about needing a very specific juice and could she please get it since she was already out. She should have known her roommate would have done this eventually. But she wasn’t thinking much about it and had agreed to go and get the juice. Which made her late in getting back to the apartment so that Stiles had been left alone with her roommate.
And of course she came back as it seemed Lydia was trying to play matchmaker, or...whatever it was she was trying to do. Lydia was her own entity, really. Though she did quirk a brow at Stiles’ response. It was something to file away. Nor was she in the habit of eavesdropping so she just cleared her throat so that they knew she was there.
“Here’s your emergency juice or whatever. Oh, and expect a call from your grandmother. She got me while I was in the store.”
Lorraine was a lovely woman. Really. Had accepted Cora into the family, even if she was convinced that she and Lydia were together. Which admittedly led to some pretty amusing conversations and hints being dropped.
Despite his awkwardness and the nagging feeling that there was something he wasn’t telling her, Lydia liked Stiles. If anyone was really going to have a shot at Cora, he seemed good enough, at least from where she was standing right now. Standing up, Lydia looked at Stiles before she heard Cora clear her throat, announcing that she had finally come home.
“Thank you!” Lydia replied with a bright smile, as if she hadn’t been grilling and testing Stiles in the middle of their living room. “I knew you’d get it for me.” Hearing that her grandmother had called Cora meant that she had tried to call her, but of course, Lydia had silenced her phone for the occasion. “I’ll just call her back. But my phone is in the other room, so I’ll leave you two to your thing.” Lydia wondered what her grandmother wanted, but she always loved talking to her. She still called her Ariel sometimes, to the annoyance of her mother, and it had been too long since they’d talked.
As she moved by Stiles to leave, she simply said, “Good answer, Stiles. You passed,” before disappearing into her room.
Stiles had watched the exchange with silent, growing horror. Once Lydia had flounced off to call her grandmother, it was just him and Cora, and he turned, slowly, to face her. He pursed his lips, nervous, before speaking. “Okay, first, you need to start wearing a bell if you’re going to sneak up on people like that. And second...I’m guessing you heard that, so there’s not really any point in pretending you didn’t.”
As Lydia left, Cora just looked to Stiles and sighed.
“Sorry about her. I’m beginning to believe she sent me on the juice mission for this very reason.”
Might as well apologize since who knew what Lydia had decided to grill Stiles about. Well, no. She had a vague idea given what she had heard. Before that though? No clue, which was why apologizing was safer. Especially since Lydia had seen the random sext that had completely confused Cora. Even so, she just smirked at the comment about having to wear a bell.
“But how do I sneak attack Derek if I have a bell? Really now.” The second bit was a bit more serious she supposed. She had heard part of it. “Just the end, but yeah. No use pretending I didn’t.”
So what did that mean? It wasn’t something Cora actively thought about. She didn’t just… decide she wanted to date someone. It took getting to know them and seeing if there was even a point. Lydia apparently thought there was something. But that didn’t mean… God, Cora was confused now.
Stiles couldn’t help but smile when Cora scoffed at the idea of a bell. It was that snarky pragmatism that had drawn him in to begin with. He moved from the middle of the room to sit down on the couch, settling into his usual spot for moving watching.
“Okay,” he decided. It was good that they were on the same page, but that didn’t mean he wanted to talk about it, necessarily. That was the whole point of what he’d said. He didn’t want something forced. And, oddly enough, now that he’d been forced to admit that he didn’t know what they were, or where they were going, he was okay with it.
“So, what are we watching tonight?”
If Stiles didn’t want to talk about it, Cora certainly wasn’t going to bring it up. One, she didn’t even know what her feelings on the matter were yet. Then there was the fact that she was a Hale and Hales just didn’t talk about feelings and things of that nature unless they absolutely had to. There was no pressing need to do so, so why would she?
With Stiles moving to the couch, Cora went to the movie case to see what there was. Nightmare Before Christmas was always a good one, but she was going to wait until Halloween or leading into Christmas. But there was still a handful of ones to choose from.
“It’s between Swing Kids, The Prestige and Pitch Perfect.” Really, no one should ever try to narrow down the options Cora had for movies, because there were a variety of them. “I also have set one and two of Ranma ½.”
“A veritable buffet,” Stiles commented, smirking a little. “I’m easy. Although I will say that Christian Bale movies are uh...maybe more intense than I’m in the mood for right now.” They were good movies, but they were sort of dark and feely. “I haven’t even heard of that other one--Pitch Perfect? We can do that, if you want. Oh and--did you want to wait for Lydia? I’m assuming she’s going to join us?”
“I like to keep people guessing.” It was easy to make an assumption about someone, why not mix things up? That and Cora really didn’t pick any one thing she liked. There were too many options. She liked what she liked and damn anyone who judged her for not being able to pigeonhole into certain likes.
“Pitch Perfect it is, then.”
Because who didn’t want to watch a movie about college a cappella groups competing? Crazy talk. Admittedly all of the movies were something Lydia probably would be interested in, though Cora didn’t know if she planned on watching the movie with them or not.
“I don’t know if she was planning to, but I can always go see if she wants to join us.”
“Either way,” Stiles replied easily. “I know I’ve been um. Weird. Around her.” To say the least. He rubbed his hand over his chin and wrinkled his nose a little. “It’s a Dream thing. Kind of...hard to explain. But she seems nice and uh...protective?” It was still weird to think of Lydia and Cora as friends--practically family--when he was pretty sure they’d never met in the other universe. But maybe they would have, if Cora had lived. And that was a maudlin thought.
Cora kept hearing about these Dreams yet she hadn’t had one. Perhaps she just wouldn’t have them? Though it seemed more likely that they just hadn’t started for her given it seemed everyone on the network had them at some point or another. It did lead to the question on how Stiles didn’t know her if he’d had Dreams with Derek and now Lydia in them.
“I’m sure I’ll understand that better if I ever get them myself.”
She didn’t know what she was in for with them. She didn’t know the pain that came from Beacon Hills and that she probably would be better off not having them. But all she knew was that she wouldn’t understand the complicated nature of the Dreams by only hearing about them.
“That sounds about right. No clue why, but her heart’s in the right place.” As sarcastic as she could be, as much as she had the persona of someone who just doesn’t care, Cora could read people since she spent more time observing as opposed to interacting. “I’m sure if she hears what we’re watching, she’ll either decide to come make herself comfortable or do whatever it is she is in her room.” Because it was Lydia. She basically did what she wanted. And it wasn’t as if the two of them hadn’t watched Pitch Perfect fairly regularly or anything like that.
Taking her normal spot on the couch, Cora hit play now that the DVD was in and ready.
Could Cora have dreams? Maybe up to a point. He’d have to go over his notes about the Hale fire. Because Stiles was documenting this other reality using every detail he can remember. But if Cora hadn’t remembered any, maybe you only got them if you lived past a certain age. “So...you haven’t gotten any? At all?” He pursed his lips. “Have you talked to Derek about it? Or um. Peter?”
“Not a one. I get the feeling I’d know if I’ve had one from the way people talk.”
Just like the fact that she apparently hadn’t had one was strange. The question about if she had talked to either her brother or her uncle was met with a questioning look. More and more she was getting the feeling that she was missing something, that there was something she should know, or something he knew which he didn’t want to tell her. Why would those two know and she wouldn’t? Why wouldn’t they tell her?
As far as she knew, Lydia hadn’t had them. But he knew her from the Dreams. But not her.
“No. I haven’t spoken to either of them.” Even though her gaze was focused on the previews, Cora looked at Stiles through her peripheral vision. “We’re not exactly the type of people who will just sit around having tea and discussing our dreams.”
Stiles snorted at that. “Yeah, why doesn’t that surprise me?” But though his words were sarcastic, his tone was affectionate. It’d only been a few weeks, and a few dreams, but he already had what could only be termed a protective fondness for the strangely prickly Hales. Well. Maybe not Peter. But Cora for sure. And maybe Derek, now that he was over being terrified of him.
He shifted closer to Cora since Lydia had yet to reappear, and stretched his arm across the back of the sofa. “So. What’s this movie about? And feel free to inform me what I’m supposed to love about it and why it has the Cora Hale stamp of approval.”
There was no actual retort to the fact the Hales didn’t discuss deep personal things beyond rolling her eyes. One, because it was Cora and that was her default reaction to things that were either obvious or stupid. This one was an obvious retort. Then there was the fact that, well, what was there to say to that? Especially when Cora was the type to just say exactly what she meant and didn’t see the need to extrapolate for the sake of hearing her own voice.
Unsurprised that Lydia didn’t decide to join them (part of whatever she was planning, no doubt. Or she was still on the phone with Lorraine…), Cora just settled and got comfortable. Now, how to describe Pitch Perfect.
“It’s about a bunch of college students who are in a cappella groups on their campus and going into competition. But it’s also about friendship and being open to new experiences.”
Which was always an important thing. So she was told. She was trying.
“Lydia showed it to me. Claimed two of the characters might as well be us… she was right. And I just like the music.”
The movie opened on some sort of musical number, with a group of guys singing onstage at what appeared to be some kind of competition. It wasn’t exactly Stiles’ kind of music, but he was open to most things, and he got the impression that it was okay to think the songs were cheesy. There was a kind of over-the-top tongue-in-cheekness to the commentary and musical performances. Because, seriously? Ace of Base?
And then the girl puked onstage. Not even like how one would normally expect someone to get sick. Like, there was no way that much vomit came from that small a person, and Stiles laughed, comfortable in his assessment that this movie was going to be self-aware in its cheesiness, even embrace it.
Then the scene changed, and Stiles recognized the actress, though he couldn’t remember from what. “I’m going to take a stab in the dark that the dark-haired antisocial looking girl avoiding everyone is you,” Stiles teased, bumping her leg with his as he smiled.
It was the fact that the movie didn’t take itself seriously, and owned its ridiculousness that made it work. It was able to make a commentary on things without being obvious and it was just fun. Yes, Cora Hale was perfectly capable of finding movies that were just fun to enjoy. She liked her history movies, the ones with a sort of darkness or gritty nature to them, she liked her kid movies, and she liked the fun ones as well.
And enter Beca.
“Why, however did you guess?”
It wasn’t terribly hard to figure out that the character trying to avoid everyone was going to end up being her. Cora didn’t people well, socializing was most certainly not her thing. The deduction wasn’t even deducting, it was obvious. Smirking, she simply returned the bumping of the leg as she watched.
Stiles tapped the side of his head with a finger, returning the smirk. “Genius-level IQ,” he bragged, though his tone was self-mocking. “Well...I’m not as smart as Lydia. But who is?”
He set his hand back down near Cora’s, half-distracted from the movie now by his thoughts. “She is still ridiculously smart, right? Or does she still hide it behind perfectly manicured nails and keen fashion sense?”
Lydia had heard the tell-tale first scene of Pitch Perfect from the other room and while she was tempted to squeeze onto the couch to watch along with Cora and Stiles, she didn’t want to crash their not-date. Even though she was very tempted to just because of the movie choice.
“Forget I’m here?” Coming out of her room, Lydia slung her purse over her shoulder as she headed back into the living room. “If you want to talk about me? Talk quieter than the volume of the TV.” It wasn’t that Lydia was offended that they were talking about her, and she wasn’t a stranger to having other gossip about her, but something about the last thing Stiles said about her hit her wrong. All Lydia had to do was make sure that didn’t show on her face. What was there was the same mischievous smile she had before.
Looking over at Cora, she said, “She wants me to come by, so I’m going to go out for a little. I was tempted to tell her to wait until after the movie, but I think I can quote it all by heart by now anyway. I’ll see you when I get back.” Lydia then looked at Stiles briefly before heading for the door. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”
With that, she was gone.
Cora didn’t have a chance to respond as Lydia walked in and made her comment. She did quirk a brow though as she looked over her shoulder but didn’t question it. Silent understanding from being friends for so long. Not that she had even known how she would have responded to the question. Instead she nodded when her roommate said that she was going to go out and see her grandmother for a bit.
“All right. See you when you get back.”
If Lydia had still wanted to watch it with them, despite being able to quote it all by heart, she would have still watched it with them. She definitely had something in mind. At least she didn’t tell them where the condoms were this time. Rolling her eyes, she turned her attention back to the screen.
“I guess now it’s only fair you walk in on Lydia and me talking about you at some point.”
Stiles winced and rubbed his forehead. “I don’t know what just happened, but I’m guessing it’s not good,” he said, blithely, and sighed. “Look--I’m sorry if I offended her. Or you. That wasn’t uh...very tactful of me.”
“She’ll be fine.” And she would, Cora knew that for a fact. Lydia was a genius, there was no two ways around it. “My guess is she hasn’t had any of the Dreams yet, so it doesn’t make much sense yet.” At least, Lydia certainly hadn’t told her if she’d had any of the Dreams and the brunette was guessing that meant she had yet to have them. Meaning it just seemed to be a comment made out of nowhere. Nor was there anything for Cora to be offended by either, so she didn’t bother going into that.
Stiles made another face, this one sympathetic but also self-aware in how much he’d fucked up. “Yeah, this is why I don’t like to talk about what I know from the dreams,” he sighed. “Because it’s just...it makes you wonder. Self-determination and all that. Am I ‘me’, or am I merely a product of my environment?”
Well that was an interesting segway. Yes, Cora was confused about how people who dreamed of her best friend and brother didn’t know her, but she wasn’t exactly pushing it either. There was the curiosity aspect of course, but between being Hales who didn’t talk about these things, and maybe even some sensation of dread, she was more than content to just wait them out, or not have them at all.
“Makes sense.” And it did. “Like I said, she’ll be fine, it takes a lot more than that to ruffle her feathers.”
That earned a snort of disbelief. “Yeah. That’s what she likes people to think,” he muttered, and then reached for the remote to skip back a few scenes. “Sorry. I totally missed what was happening, and I’m totally invested in finding out how the redhead teaches Beca the nature of true love,” he joked.
An annoyed look was shot at Stiles for the first comment. Cora may not be the most socially aware, but she did know her best friend and maybe in the Dreams or whatever what he said was accurate, but she knew the actual Lydia, the one she lived with. But he was skipping back a few scenes since they’d been distracted and she just nudged him with her shoulder at the joke.
“It’s quite a tale that can only be seen.”