24. We're falling apart and we're coming together again and again.

[voluntaryapnea]

[Open Action Spam]

[After leaving Scott's room, Stiles makes his way toward the stairs. He's relieved as hell that Scott is awake again, that he seems to be fine. Just as nearly everyone had told him. But now he has other people he needs to check on. Lydia, Dean, Kira, Liam, Allison, Isaac, Bucky, Steve, Jean. His people. They're growing in numbers, expanding a little bit at a time. For a guy who'd once thought himself virtually incapable of caring about anyone besides his dad, Scott, and Lydia, he's come a long way.

He heads for Dean's room first, mostly because they'd been in the midst of a battle with a horrifyingly large kaiju before getting pulled back to the Barge, and he wants to make sure his inmate is okay. He still feels a little disoriented by all of it. More so than most of these kinds of events tend to leave him.

He can be found heading toward any of their rooms, also at the cafeteria to grab something to eat, and then heading back to his own room on the seventh floor.]

[Private to Scott]

[He's slept a bit since he saw Scott earlier, but he still looks a little tired. He also looks a little nervous.]

I have a question.

[Spam for Lydia]

[Everything is already set up in the enclosure, ready to go. Now he just has to get her to go with him. He's chewing his thumbnail as he heads toward her room, and knocks lightly on the door. It's late but not super late. Not late enough that he's worried she'll be asleep. He stands and waits, heart beating quickly in his chest.]

Comments

[voluntaryapnea]

Yeah. Yeah, I did. It was sort of a thing that we did when my dad was working. He's not much for ice skating. He might still be better at it than Scott, though.

[He laughs softly.]

[lydiascreams]

[She laughs, too, glad to hear him laughing like that. She tugs on his hand gently and pulls him further into the lake.]

I don't think it takes much, though. You'd think a werewolf would be more graceful than that.

[voluntaryapnea]

[He lets her tug him closer and gives her hand a light squeeze. He's still grinning at the memory.]

He's graceful at lacrosse, I guess. Toss in a set of blades and he's a hot mess.

[lydiascreams]

That is exactly what happened, yes.

[Lydia leans closer and presses a kiss to his cheek before pulling away a little.]

C'mon, show me what you can do. [And maybe there's a hint of teasing, and a hint of flirting to her tone. She's been behaving so far? And then she skates backwards slowly, away from him.]

[voluntaryapnea]

Well, I can't do any fancy spins or triple axels.

[His voice is light, joking, but he watches her skate backwards away from him and he smiles, cheeks already pink from the cold. He pushes off with his left foot and skates toward her.]

[lydiascreams]

That's not what I asked.

[With a grin, she turns away from him and skates forward for a second, to pick up speed. She really misses ice skating. And then she picks up her right foot, spinning on her left one for a moment before stopping abruptly, but with precision, as she turns to face him again.]

What you can do.

[voluntaryapnea]

[He doesn't stop skating when she spins, but he keeps his gaze on her, eyes bright as he watches. He's pretty sure there's nothing she's not good at. In other people it'd probably drive him crazy, but she's Lydia. He shakes his head in amusement and skates past her before turning to look at her.]

Just the regular stuff. Nothing fancy for Stiles.

[lydiascreams]

[She grins when she sees the way he's watching her. She likes being able to put that look on his face. And she hopes she never stops having that effect on him.

Once he stops, she skates over to him and holds her hands out.]

I can teach you. You already know the basics. [And she doesn't mean just with skating Stiles.]

[voluntaryapnea]

[He's pretty sure she'll never stop having that effect on him.

He reaches out and takes her hands, eyebrows shooting up at her words, because he definitely doesn't miss the double entendre.]

Uh. [His throat suddenly feels completely dry.]

[lydiascreams]

[She's not gonna push him right now. Not anymore than she has in the past. But if she manages to get the idea in his head. And make him understand she's okay with this, then maybe he'll relax eventually.]

You okay? [She smiles softly, cocking her head as she steps closer.]

[voluntaryapnea]

Yep. Yep, I am totally and completely fine.

[He links their fingers together.]

All right. Show me fancy ice skating.

[lydiascreams]

[She leans in and kisses him again. It's slow and deep, but she pulls away with a smile after just a moment. Maybe she's being a tease. Maybe. A little bit.

But a second later, she tugs on his hand and skates backward.]

Start with the basic turn?

[voluntaryapnea]

[His heart is beating quickly when she ends the kiss. She's definitely teasing him, and he doesn't mind it a bit. He knows she's more than ready to take things to the next level, but there's a conversation they need to have first. And something he has to do before that can happen. But now isn't the time for that talk.]

Lead the way. [He smiles softly.

There isn't anywhere he wouldn't follow her.]