but oh what a year

[patrols]

Comments

[yourtype]

Okay. Sounds good.

[Lots of stuff is going to be going down at this party, apparently.]

I'll see you there.

[And with that, she will leave him to go get ready. In the meantime, Laura has followed her nose in he direction of her brother and finds him down in one of the living rooms, before making her way closer and nudging him with her foot.

"Hey."]

[engender]

( Derek's looking at some of the pictures on the mantle. No doubt one of Allison's gophers pre-furnished. He smells his sister first. Then he feels the toe tap. He lets himself smile, before he turns. After a second, he gives her the hug they both need. )

[hereditare]

[She will take that hug, leaning into something that is wholly familiar, that feels almost exactly how she left it. Derek has aged some but not in the way that Cora had, where she went from a young child to a full grown adult. And seeing that he is actually okay and all in one piece is a relief.]

Sorry I left.

[In New York. Sorry she went back to Beacon Hills alone, sorry she went to face Peter without being the requisite back up. She was stupid, and she paid the price for it but that means Derek paid it too.]

[engender]

Sorry I stayed.

( Maybe if he had gone back with her and tried not to be a college student, maybe everything could have been prevented. )

Neither of us have anything to be sorry about.

[hereditare]

Feels like it.

[But she's still processing a lot of things, so maybe that instinct will fade.]

Seems like you've got a good pack now though. Stiles has been drawing all the connections.

[engender]

It's far-reaching. I moonlight for Hayley's pack, but, it's always been Scott.

( Coming from feeling like a failure to recognizing how cut out some are to be the alpha was a journey and it happened quicker than he'd anticipated. )

[hereditare]

Scott sounds like a good guy.

[She's glad that her siblings found a good pack.]

And Hayley sounds ... nice. Cora likes her.

[engender]

He's the best of us.

( He always has been, even in the thick of it. )

Hayley is very nice. And, yes. Cora does. We've been together since May. It's been... awhile.

[hereditare]

[Laura nods, before looking around at the rest of the house.]

So Stiles has been telling me a lot about about the pack and the hunters you guys hang out with. Is there any one else at this party I should be worried about?

[engender]

Not that you should be worried about. It's an array of people, so there could be some wildcards, but none that pose any danger.

( He does rest a hand on the mantle as he thinks through the invited guests he knows about. )

There will be vampires there, but, all vampires we trust.

[hereditare]

Honestly, I'm more worried about the hunters than the vampires.

[But that may be her bias showing and she holds up her hands.]

I know, everyone's all friendly now. I'm just ... still wrapping my head around it.

[engender]

All of the invited hunters aren't threats. There are good hunters. I promise.

( He wants her to feel comfortable. )

You don't have to go tonight, if you don't want to. We could stay here. Order something. Let everyone else be in the crowds.

[hereditare]

[The offer is tempting. It'd be nice to not feel like she's drowning in a room full of strangers and not knowing who to trust. At the same time, she's not going to get over this aversion if she doesn't actually spend time with these people.

So she shakes her head.]

No, I'll go. I'm not going to get used to them if I don't actually spend time with them.

[She just may duck out early. But she'll let him know if she does.]

[engender]

No. You won't.

( He draws her close, around her waist. )

I haven't said it. Because I didn't know - ( How he'd feel. ) But, ( He still can't, he just leans in, pressing his chin against her forehead, breathing with her. )

[hereditare]

[She leans into him, soaking in the familiarity of it. The years after the fire of it being just the two of them, the only people they could rely on, come rushing back and she doesn't want to pull him back into that space again. To make him think that she needs him like that.

Derek is still Derek, even if he's changed, he still feels the same. He still feels like family.

She wishes she hadn't missed it all, but she's glad she gets to be here now.]

It's okay.

[Whatever he wants to say, she can take it. Or if he doesn't want to put it out there, he doesn't have to.]

[engender]

Missed you. Every day.

( But, that's emotions and feelings and they run deep. He wanted to say it's good to have her back, but, he doesn't know if it is. Fundamentally it is. But, is it good for her? )

Say the word, we can leave the party. My girlfriend's back in New Orleans, so I'm not beholden to anyone.

[hereditare]

Okay. If I need to leave, I'll let you know.

[But she flashes him a bit of a smirk to start.]

Might as well take advantage of the free food though.

[engender]

Promise.

( But, her smirk earns her his own. )

Spoken like a Hale. Let's get upstairs. Get ready. I'll put on my nicest henley.

[hereditare]

[She laughs, her first real one since she's been back, and while it does feel a little rusty, it also feels good. It helps her feel a little more alive.

She'll get there. One day at a time.]

Sounds good.

[And with that, they'll get ready to head out to the party.]